Overall
- El Paso
- 89.9
Diff +8.7 RPP
El Paso vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 9.7% more expensive than El Paso.
9.7% more expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 9.7% more expensive than El Paso, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 89.9). A $100,000 salary in El Paso buys about the same as $109,695 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 89.9 (El Paso) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in El Paso ≈ $109,695 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Rents drives the gap (+33.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:TX 89.9→98.6
TIER-GAP · SAME-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- SAME-STATE Same state · TX
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in El Paso would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In El Paso | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $54,848 | +$4,848 |
| $75,000 | $82,271 | +$7,271 |
| $100,000 | $109,695 | +$9,695 |
| $150,000 | $164,543 | +$14,543 |
$ in El Paso = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (89.9 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
El Paso, TX and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 8.7 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Rents leads the difference, with Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 33.3 points higher than El Paso. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 El Paso corresponds to $109,695 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- El Paso
- 93.8
Diff +6.9 RPP
Services
- El Paso
- 82.6
Diff +12.7 RPP
Rents
- El Paso
- 71.2
Diff +33.3 RPP
| Category | El Paso | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 89.9 | 98.6 | +8.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 100.6 | +6.9 |
| Services | 82.6 | 95.3 | +12.7 |
| Rents | 71.2 | 104.5 | +33.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
El Paso 89.9
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
El Paso 93.8
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
El Paso 82.6
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
El Paso 71.2
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
El Paso
89.9
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
El Paso and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 7.0 to 8.7 RPP points. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (1.1 to 6.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | El Paso RPP | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 92.5 | 99.4 | 7.0 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2012 | 95.6 | 100.0 | 4.5 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2016 | 95.2 | 102.4 | 7.2 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 92.7 | 100.0 | 7.2 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2024 | 89.9 | 98.6 | 8.7 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than El Paso?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 9.7% more expensive than El Paso. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 89.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands equals $100K in El Paso?
A $100,000 salary in El Paso has the same purchasing power as $109,695 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between El Paso and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in El Paso are indexed at 71.2 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.