Overall
Diff -1.4 RPP
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 1.4% less expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell.
1.4% less expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 1.4% less expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 100.1). A $100,000 salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell buys about the same as $98,572 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 100.1 (Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell ≈ $98,572 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Rents drives the gap (-6.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair GA:TX 100.1→98.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE GA × TX
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell
100.1
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 6.5 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.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is above 100 while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell corresponds to $98,572 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.2 RPP
Services
Diff -1.0 RPP
Rents
Diff -6.5 RPP
| Category | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.1 | 98.6 | -1.4 |
| Goods | 100.4 | 100.6 | +0.2 |
| Services | 96.2 | 95.3 | -1.0 |
| Rents | 111.0 | 104.5 | -6.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.1
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 100.4
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 96.2
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 111.0
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,286 | $-714 |
| $75,000 | $73,929 | $-1,071 |
| $100,000 | $98,572 | $-1,428 |
| $150,000 | $147,858 | $-2,142 |
$ in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.1 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 1.4% less expensive than Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 100.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands equals $100K in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell?
A $100,000 salary in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell has the same purchasing power as $98,572 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell are indexed at 111.0 while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is at 104.5 (national average = 100). Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell 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.