Overall
Diff -1.3 RPP
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 1.3% less expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton.
1.3% less expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 1.3% less expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 100.0). A $100,000 salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton buys about the same as $98,661 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 100.0 (Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton ≈ $98,661 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Services drives the gap (-12.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:TX 100.0→98.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE PA × 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.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
100.0
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.3 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 12.3 points lower. But 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 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton to $98,661 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
Diff -12.3 RPP
Rents
Diff -1.0 RPP
| Category | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.0 | 98.6 | -1.3 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 100.6 | +0.1 |
| Services | 107.6 | 95.3 | -12.3 |
| Rents | 105.5 | 104.5 | -1.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.0
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.6
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 107.6
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 105.5
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,330 | $-670 |
| $75,000 | $73,995 | $-1,005 |
| $100,000 | $98,661 | $-1,339 |
| $150,000 | $147,991 | $-2,009 |
$ in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.0 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 1.3% less expensive than Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 100.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands equals $100K in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton?
A $100,000 salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton has the same purchasing power as $98,661 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton are indexed at 105.5 while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is at 104.5 (national average = 100). Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 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.