Cost of living comparison
compared to
Houston vs. Sacramento Cost of Living Summary
Houston is 15.3% cheaper than Sacramento.
- Restaurants
-
pay 3.2% more in Houston
- Groceries
-
pay 29.4% less in Houston
- Transportation
-
pay 22.8% less in Houston
- Housing
-
pay 23.3% less in Houston
- Childcare
-
pay 9.6% less in Houston
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 13.9% less in Houston
- Clothing
-
pay 11.6% less in Houston
Expenses including groceries, housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, clothing, and childcare are lower in Houston.
Houston vs. Sacramento Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Houston instead of Sacramento, you would:
pay 3.2% more for restaurants
|
Sacramento
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$20.00
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
|
$10.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.53
|
$2.76
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.04
|
$2.23
|
|
Sacramento vs. Houston - Cost of restaurants
pay 29.4% less for groceries
|
Sacramento
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.54
|
$3.23
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.13
|
$6.32
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.45
|
$3.44
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.03
|
$4.35
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$7.43
|
$5.20
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.36
|
$1.88
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.94
|
$0.67
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.93
|
$1.67
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$3.08
|
$1.12
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.70
|
$1.20
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.07
|
$1.05
|
|
Sacramento vs. Houston - Cost of groceries
pay 22.8% less for transportation
|
Sacramento
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.75
|
$2.81
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$100.00
|
$75.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,753.89
|
$36,278.39
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$18.91
|
$14.39
|
|
Sacramento vs. Houston - Cost of transportation
pay 23.3% less for housing
|
Sacramento
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$74.65
|
$70.76
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,061.79
|
$1,660.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,652.79
|
$1,287.77
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$270.98
|
$145.65
|
|
Sacramento vs. Houston - Cost of housing
pay 9.6% less for childcare
|
Sacramento
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,450.83
|
$1,258.33
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$27,750.00
|
$26,120.00
|
|
Sacramento vs. Houston - Cost of childcare
pay 13.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Sacramento
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.67
|
$5.41
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$12.25
|
$9.95
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$49.46
|
$37.29
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$14.50
|
$15.00
|
|
Sacramento vs. Houston - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 11.6% less for clothing
|
Sacramento
|
Houston
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$58.75
|
$45.57
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$54.83
|
$44.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$93.07
|
$98.95
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$130.00
|
$116.43
|
|
Sacramento vs. Houston - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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