City comparison
Houston, TX is about 1,400 miles (2,200 km) from South Gate, CA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,700 miles, or about 28 hours (about 3 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 Houston, TX to South Gate, CA takes about 2 h 44 min, covering roughly 1,400 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, TX is on Central Time and South Gate, CA is on Pacific Time — a 2-hour difference. When it's noon in Houston, it's 10 a.m. in South Gate, which puts Houston 2 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 92,381 in South Gate — about 24.9× larger by population. By land area, Houston covers about 640 sq mi vs 7.2 sq mi for South Gate.
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 | Houston | South Gate | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,235/mo | $1,400/mo | 13.4% higher in South Gate |
| Median home value | $235,000 | $578,900 | 146.3% higher in South Gate |
| Median household income | $60,440 | $67,188 | 11.2% higher in South Gate |
| Groceries index | 100.4 | 106.4 | 6.0% higher in South Gate |
| Utilities index | 96.3 | 155.6 | 61.5% higher in South Gate |
| Transportation index | 95.8 | 104.4 | 9.0% higher in South Gate |
| Healthcare index | 95.2 | 104.3 | 9.6% higher in South Gate |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Houston, you'd need $135,038 in South Gate to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Houston, TX is about 25.9% cheaper overall than South Gate, CA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 59% higher in South Gate than in Houston. If you earn $80,000 in Houston, you'd need about $108,030 in South Gate to keep the same standard of living.