Overall
- Texarkana
- 84.0
Diff -1.1 RPP
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux vs Texarkana
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Texarkana is 1.3% less expensive than Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux.
1.3% less expensive
Texarkana, TX-AR is 1.3% less expensive than Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 84.0 vs 85.1). A $100,000 salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux buys about the same as $98,718 in Texarkana; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.1 (Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux) vs 84.0 (Texarkana)
- $100k in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux ≈ $98,718 purchasing power in Texarkana
- Services drives the gap (+8.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair LA:TX 85.1→84.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE LA × 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.
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
85.1
Cost Index
Texarkana
84.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA and Texarkana, TX-AR are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Texarkana is 8.0 points higher. But services 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 Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux to $98,718 in Texarkana, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Texarkana
- 93.7
Diff +0.0 RPP
Services
- Texarkana
- 79.3
Diff +8.0 RPP
Rents
- Texarkana
- 49.9
Diff -1.4 RPP
| Category | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | Texarkana | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.1 | 84.0 | -1.1 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.7 | +0.0 |
| Services | 71.3 | 79.3 | +8.0 |
| Rents | 51.3 | 49.9 | -1.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 85.1
Texarkana 84.0
Goods
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 93.7
Texarkana 93.7
Services
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 71.3
Texarkana 79.3
Rents
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 51.3
Texarkana 49.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux would need to be in Texarkana for the same purchasing power:
| In Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | In Texarkana | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,359 | $-641 |
| $75,000 | $74,039 | $-961 |
| $100,000 | $98,718 | $-1,282 |
| $150,000 | $148,077 | $-1,923 |
$ in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux = in Texarkana
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.1 → 84.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Texarkana more expensive than Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux?
Texarkana is 1.3% less expensive than Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux. The overall cost index is 84.0 vs 85.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Texarkana equals $100K in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux?
A $100,000 salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux has the same purchasing power as $98,718 in Texarkana. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux and Texarkana?
Rents in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux are indexed at 51.3 while Texarkana is at 49.9 (national average = 100). Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 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.