#3 of 66 for you
Houston, TX
The cheapest housing of any top-10 metro, paid for in property tax and humidity.
Left over monthly
$3,159
Versus Chicago
+$779/mo
+$9,348 a year
Local pay for your job
$95,686
Local wages run 2% vs national
Where the money goes
One earner filing as a household, at 1 bedrooms.
- Taxes$1,665
- Rent$1,199
- Other living costs$1,950
- Left over$3,159
Pay and tax, per year
- Gross household pay
- $95,686
- Federal income tax
- −$12,665
- Social Security and Medicare
- −$7,320
- State income tax (TX)
- None
- Take-home pay
- $75,701
- Effective tax rate
- 20.9%
Living costs, per month
- Rent, 1br
- $1,199
- Groceries
- $380
- Getting around
- $572
- Healthcare
- $428
- Utilities and internet
- $238
- Everything else
- $333
- Total spending
- $3,149
Left over each month
$7,974 gross, minus $1,665 in tax and $3,149 in living costs.
$3,159
What living here is like
- Weather
- 204 sunny days, 94°F in July, 45°F January nights
- Getting around
- Plan on a car per adult
- Average commute
- 29 minutes each way
- Size
- 7.3M people
- Buying instead
- Median home $275,200 — roughly $2,045/mo with 20% down, tax and upkeep
- Taxes
- No state income tax. Sales tax 8.2%, property tax 1.75%.
How it scores against what you said matters
- Money left over
- 89
- Sun and mild weather
- 63
- Access to the outdoors
- 56
- City life and culture
- 76
- A short commute
- 45
Chicago vs Houston, line by line
Same job, same household, both tax codes applied.
Open the comparison →Also worth a look
- Seattle, WA$3,406/mo
No state income tax and high wages, offset by home prices and 150 sunny days.
- Austin, TX$3,176/mo
No income tax, but property taxes are among the steepest anywhere.
- Dallas, TX$3,044/mo
No income tax, endless new construction, and a 1.5% property tax bill.
- Denver, CO$2,654/mo
Mountains in an hour, 245 sunny days, and a flat 4.4% state tax.