Overall
- Boulder
- 105.2
Diff +6.6 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Boulder
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Boulder is 6.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
6.7% more expensive
Boulder, CO is 6.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 105.2 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $106,664 in Boulder; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 105.2 (Boulder)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $106,664 purchasing power in Boulder
- Rents drives the gap (+52.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:CO 98.6→105.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × CO
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Boulder
- 96.1
Diff -4.6 RPP
Services
- Boulder
- 82.7
Diff -12.5 RPP
Rents
- Boulder
- 157.0
Diff +52.5 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Boulder | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 105.2 | +6.6 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 96.1 | -4.6 |
| Services | 95.3 | 82.7 | -12.5 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 157.0 | +52.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Boulder 105.2
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Boulder 96.1
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Boulder 82.7
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Boulder 157.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Boulder is 52.5 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.
Boulder, CO is 6.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.6-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Boulder is above 100 while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands corresponds to $106,664 in Boulder.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Boulder
105.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Boulder for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Boulder | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,332 | +$3,332 |
| $75,000 | $79,998 | +$4,998 |
| $100,000 | $106,664 | +$6,664 |
| $150,000 | $159,997 | +$9,997 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Boulder
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 105.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Boulder share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 9.1 to 6.6 RPP points. Boulder remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.1 to 4.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Boulder RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 108.5 | 9.1 points Boulder higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 107.5 | 7.4 points Boulder higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 105.6 | 3.3 points Boulder higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 101.7 | 1.7 points Boulder higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 105.2 | 6.6 points Boulder 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 Boulder more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Boulder is 6.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 105.2 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Boulder equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $106,664 in Boulder. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Boulder?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Boulder is at 157.0 (national average = 100). Boulder 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.