City comparison
Akron, OH is about 1,100 miles (1,800 km) from Houston, TX in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,400 miles, or about 23 hours (about 2 days at 10 h/day) behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Akron, OH to Houston, TX takes about 2 h 12 min, covering roughly 1,100 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Akron, OH is on Eastern Time and Houston, TX is on Central Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in Akron, it's 11 a.m. in Houston, which puts Akron 1 hours ahead.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
Houston has a population of 2,296,253, vs 190,273 in Akron — about 12.1× larger by population. By land area, Houston covers about 640 sq mi vs 62 sq mi for Akron.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Akron | Houston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $887/mo | $1,235/mo | 39.2% higher in Houston |
| Median home value | $99,700 | $235,000 | 135.7% higher in Houston |
| Median household income | $46,596 | $60,440 | 29.7% higher in Houston |
| Groceries index | 93.9 | 100.4 | 6.9% higher in Houston |
| Utilities index | 96.0 | 96.3 | ≈ equal (Houston slightly higher) |
| Transportation index | 98.8 | 95.8 | 3.1% higher in Akron |
| Healthcare index | 99.0 | 95.2 | 4.0% higher in Akron |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Akron, you'd need $113,373 in Houston to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Akron, OH is about 11.8% cheaper overall than Houston, TX, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 36% higher in Houston than in Akron. If you earn $80,000 in Akron, you'd need about $90,699 in Houston to keep the same standard of living.