Overall
Diff +0.8 RPP
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux vs McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is 0.9% more expensive than Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux.
0.9% more expensive
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX is 0.9% more expensive than Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 85.1). A $100,000 salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux buys about the same as $100,931 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.1 (Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux) vs 85.9 (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission)
- $100k in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux ≈ $100,931 purchasing power in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
- Services drives the gap (+9.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair LA:TX 85.1→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE LA × TX
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
85.1
Cost Index
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 9.9 points higher than Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux. 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.
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 Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux to $100,931 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
Diff +9.9 RPP
Rents
Diff +4.6 RPP
| Category | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.1 | 85.9 | +0.8 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.8 | +0.1 |
| Services | 71.3 | 81.2 | +9.9 |
| Rents | 51.3 | 55.9 | +4.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 85.1
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 85.9
Goods
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 93.7
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 93.8
Services
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 71.3
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 81.2
Rents
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 51.3
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 55.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux would need to be in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission for the same purchasing power:
| In Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | In McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,465 | +$465 |
| $75,000 | $75,698 | +$698 |
| $100,000 | $100,931 | +$931 |
| $150,000 | $151,396 | +$1,396 |
$ in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux = in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.1 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is McAllen-Edinburg-Mission more expensive than Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux?
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is 0.9% more expensive than Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 85.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission equals $100K in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux?
A $100,000 salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux has the same purchasing power as $100,931 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission?
Rents in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux are indexed at 51.3 while McAllen-Edinburg-Mission is at 55.9 (national average = 100). McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 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.