Overall
Diff +1.3 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is 1.4% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
1.4% more expensive
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ is 1.4% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.0 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $101,358 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 100.0 (Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $101,358 purchasing power in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
- Services drives the gap (+12.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:PA 98.6→100.0
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × PA
- 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.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
100.0
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ 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: Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is 12.3 points higher. 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands to $101,358 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, 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 | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 100.0 | +1.3 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 100.6 | -0.1 |
| Services | 95.3 | 107.6 | +12.3 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 105.5 | +1.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.0
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 100.6
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 107.6
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 105.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,679 | +$679 |
| $75,000 | $76,018 | +$1,018 |
| $100,000 | $101,358 | +$1,358 |
| $150,000 | $152,036 | +$2,036 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 100.0), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is 1.4% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 100.0 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $101,358 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is at 105.5 (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.