City comparison
Anchorage, AK is about 3,200 miles (5,200 km) from Houston, TX in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 4,100 miles, or about 68 hours (about 7 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 Anchorage, AK to Houston, TX takes about 6 h 30 min, covering roughly 3,200 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.
Anchorage, AK is on Alaska Time and Houston, TX is on Central Time — a 3-hour difference. When it's noon in Anchorage, it's 3 p.m. in Houston, which puts Anchorage 3 hours behind.
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 290,674 in Anchorage — about 7.9× larger by population. By land area, Anchorage covers about 1,700 sq mi vs 640 sq mi for Houston.
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 | Anchorage | Houston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,405/mo | $1,235/mo | 13.8% higher in Anchorage |
| Median home value | $363,800 | $235,000 | 54.8% higher in Anchorage |
| Median household income | $95,731 | $60,440 | 58.4% higher in Anchorage |
| Groceries index | 107.0 | 100.4 | 6.6% higher in Anchorage |
| Utilities index | 113.0 | 96.3 | 17.3% higher in Anchorage |
| Transportation index | 103.5 | 95.8 | 8.1% higher in Anchorage |
| Healthcare index | 103.4 | 95.2 | 8.7% higher in Anchorage |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Anchorage, you'd need $92,830 in Houston to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Houston, TX is about 7.2% cheaper overall than Anchorage, AK, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 6% higher in Anchorage than in Houston. If you earn $80,000 in Anchorage, you'd need about $74,264 in Houston to keep the same standard of living.