Overall
Diff -5.9 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek is 6% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
6% less expensive
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH is 6% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.7 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $93,983 in Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 92.7 (Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $93,983 purchasing power in Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek
- Rents drives the gap (-31.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:OH 98.6→92.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × OH
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
Diff -7.0 RPP
Services
Diff +0.1 RPP
Rents
Diff -31.8 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 92.7 | -5.9 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 93.6 | -7.0 |
| Services | 95.3 | 95.4 | +0.1 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 72.7 | -31.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek 92.7
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek 93.6
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek 95.4
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek 72.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek is 31.8 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH is 6% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.9-point overall gap.
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.
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 $93,983 in Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek
92.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,991 | $-3,009 |
| $75,000 | $70,487 | $-4,513 |
| $100,000 | $93,983 | $-6,017 |
| $150,000 | $140,974 | $-9,026 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 92.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 3.4 to 5.9 RPP points. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (19.8 to 31.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 96.0 | 3.4 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 93.1 | 6.9 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 92.7 | 9.6 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 91.8 | 8.1 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 92.7 | 5.9 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 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 Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek is 6% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 92.7 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $93,983 in Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek is at 72.7 (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.