Overall
Diff -0.9 RPP
Albany-Schenectady-Troy vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 0.9% less expensive than Albany-Schenectady-Troy.
0.9% less expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 0.9% less expensive than Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 99.6). A $100,000 salary in Albany-Schenectady-Troy buys about the same as $99,059 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 99.6 (Albany-Schenectady-Troy) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in Albany-Schenectady-Troy ≈ $99,059 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Services drives the gap (-38.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:TX 99.6→98.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NY × TX
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Albany-Schenectady-Troy
99.6
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 38.8 points lower. But rents and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Albany-Schenectady-Troy to $99,059 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.9 RPP
Services
- Albany-Schenectady-Troy
- 134.0
Diff -38.8 RPP
Rents
- Albany-Schenectady-Troy
- 102.6
Diff +1.9 RPP
| Category | Albany-Schenectady-Troy | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 99.6 | 98.6 | -0.9 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 100.6 | +0.9 |
| Services | 134.0 | 95.3 | -38.8 |
| Rents | 102.6 | 104.5 | +1.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 99.6
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 99.7
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 134.0
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 102.6
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Albany-Schenectady-Troy would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In Albany-Schenectady-Troy | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,529 | $-471 |
| $75,000 | $74,294 | $-706 |
| $100,000 | $99,059 | $-941 |
| $150,000 | $148,588 | $-1,412 |
$ in Albany-Schenectady-Troy = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (99.6 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than Albany-Schenectady-Troy?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 0.9% less expensive than Albany-Schenectady-Troy. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 99.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands equals $100K in Albany-Schenectady-Troy?
A $100,000 salary in Albany-Schenectady-Troy has the same purchasing power as $99,059 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albany-Schenectady-Troy and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in Albany-Schenectady-Troy are indexed at 102.6 while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is at 104.5 (national average = 100). Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.