City comparison
Decatur, IL is about 800 miles (1,300 km) from Houston, TX in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,000 miles, or about 16 hours 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 Decatur, IL to Houston, TX takes about 1 h 34 min, covering roughly 800 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.
Houston has a population of 2,296,253, vs 70,975 in Decatur — about 32.4× larger by population. By land area, Houston covers about 640 sq mi vs 44 sq mi for Decatur.
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 | Decatur | Houston | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $770/mo | $1,235/mo | 60.4% higher in Houston |
| Median home value | $96,800 | $235,000 | 142.8% higher in Houston |
| Median household income | $49,039 | $60,440 | 23.2% higher in Houston |
| Groceries index | 93.9 | 100.4 | 6.9% higher in Houston |
| Utilities index | 91.2 | 96.3 | 5.7% higher in Houston |
| Transportation index | 99.3 | 95.8 | 3.7% higher in Decatur |
| Healthcare index | 99.5 | 95.2 | 4.6% higher in Decatur |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Decatur, you'd need $125,502 in Houston to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Decatur, IL is about 20.3% cheaper overall than Houston, TX, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 84% higher in Houston than in Decatur. If you earn $80,000 in Decatur, you'd need about $100,402 in Houston to keep the same standard of living.