Is Houston an affordable place to live? A typical resident spends around 17.5% of income on rent and 8.1% on food. That leaves approximately 74.5% of income available for savings and daily expenses.
The Urban Stress Index (USI) provides a structured way to evaluate cost-of-living pressure in Houston. By combining housing and essential food costs, it highlights how much income is required to maintain a basic standard of living relative to local wages.
| Item | Monthly | % of Income |
|---|---|---|
| Income | 6,447 | — |
| Rent (1BR) | 1,126 | 17.5% |
| Essential Food | 520 | 8.1% |
| Remaining | 4,801 | 74.5% |
Use our cost of living calculator to estimate your own disposable income in Houston.
This content is currently under development.
The Urban Stress Index (USI) measures how much of a typical income is spent on housing and essential food.
USI = Housing burden + Food cost share.
See full methodology here.
Income data for US cities are based on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages supplementary tables published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), using average weekly wage data as the salary benchmark for each metropolitan area, county, or relevant labour market. Monthly gross salary is estimated by multiplying the reported weekly wage by 4.2.
Rental data are based on Zillow Rental Manager market trends, using advertised one-bedroom apartment rents as the housing benchmark for each city.
Food cost estimates use Numbeo’s Meal at an Inexpensive Restaurant price as a standardized essential meal-cost proxy.
For full explanation of assumptions, see the Methodology and Sources pages.
Other cities in USA:
Other cities outside USA: