Uprootmap

Houston, TX

Hand-reviewed metro

Cost of living in Houston: $3,170 leftover

Cost of living in Houston, as leftover, is $3,170 a month for one adult, renting a 1-bedroom on local pay — take-home after tax minus rent of $1,188 and the rest of the modelled month. A price index would say non-housing costs sit near the US average (index 0.95). Texas has no state income tax. Houston is a hand-reviewed metro.

Compare vs ChicagoHow the math works

These figures start from one adult in a one-bedroom, on local pay of about $98,500. Change the job, the pay, or how many bedrooms you need, and leftover changes. This is a monthly budget, not a cost-of-living index.

The month, in dollars

Take-home is $6,308 after tax. These lines are the modelled bills, then what is left. The monthly costs page is the same household inside the city hub.

Monthly costs and leftover in Houston
Rent$1,188
Groceries$380
Transport$572
Healthcare$428
Utilities$238
Childcare$0
Everything else$333
Total costs$3,138
Leftover$3,170

Sales tax is about 8.2%. Property tax is modelled at 1.75% of a $275,200 median home. Non-housing lines scale a national baseline by this metro's cost index (0.95).

Asking rent by bedroom

Turnover asking rent in Houston, not the Census median of occupied stock. Rent versus buying.

  • Studio

    $1,018

  • 1 bedroom

    $1,188

  • 2 bedrooms

    $1,414

  • 3 bedrooms

    $1,852

  • 4 bedrooms

    $2,192

Leftover in other metros nearby

Same household. Each leftover is take-home after that metro's tax minus its rent.

Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. Change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms and the ranking is a different city. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.

Cost of living in Houston

What is the cost of living in Houston?

On the default one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover in Houston, TX is about $3,170 a month after tax and rent. Asking rent is about $1,188 for a one-bedroom and $1,414 for a two-bedroom. That is a budget, not a cost-of-living index.

How does Houston compare with a cost-of-living index?

A price index would say non-housing costs sit near the US average (index 0.95). Leftover still depends on your tax bill and bedroom count, which an index does not. Houston is a hand-reviewed metro.

Where is take-home pay in Houston calculated?

The take-home page for Houston splits federal, payroll, state and local wage tax, then subtracts rent. The city paycheck page is the same leftover math with the map.

Popular compares from Houston

Moving from Houston

Other Texas metros

Other metros in Texas, with leftover, rent, and day-to-day pages.

All Texas metros