Overall
Diff +0.2 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Atlantic City-Hammonton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Atlantic City-Hammonton is 0.2% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
0.2% more expensive
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 0.2% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.9 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $100,231 in Atlantic City-Hammonton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $100,231 purchasing power in Atlantic City-Hammonton
- Services drives the gap (+13.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:NJ 98.6→98.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × NJ
- 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
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Atlantic City-Hammonton is 13.9 points higher. But rents 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands to $100,231 in Atlantic City-Hammonton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 98.9 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 99.8 | -0.8 |
| Services | 95.3 | 109.2 | +13.9 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 98.7 | -5.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Atlantic City-Hammonton for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,116 | +$116 |
| $75,000 | $75,173 | +$173 |
| $100,000 | $100,231 | +$231 |
| $150,000 | $150,347 | +$347 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Atlantic City-Hammonton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 98.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Atlantic City-Hammonton more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Atlantic City-Hammonton is 0.2% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 98.9 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $100,231 in Atlantic City-Hammonton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Atlantic City-Hammonton is at 98.7 (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.