Overall
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- 105.8
Diff +7.2 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Denver-Aurora-Centennial
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Denver-Aurora-Centennial is 7.3% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
7.3% more expensive
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO is 7.3% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 105.8 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $107,252 in Denver-Aurora-Centennial; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 105.8 (Denver-Aurora-Centennial)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $107,252 purchasing power in Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- Rents drives the gap (+42.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:CO 98.6→105.8
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
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- 101.0
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
Diff -7.4 RPP
Rents
- Denver-Aurora-Centennial
- 146.9
Diff +42.4 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Denver-Aurora-Centennial | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 105.8 | +7.2 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 101.0 | +0.3 |
| Services | 95.3 | 87.9 | -7.4 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 146.9 | +42.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 105.8
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 101.0
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 87.9
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Denver-Aurora-Centennial 146.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Denver-Aurora-Centennial is 42.4 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO is 7.3% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Denver-Aurora-Centennial 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 $107,252 in Denver-Aurora-Centennial.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Denver-Aurora-Centennial
105.8
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Denver-Aurora-Centennial for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Denver-Aurora-Centennial | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,626 | +$3,626 |
| $75,000 | $80,439 | +$5,439 |
| $100,000 | $107,252 | +$7,252 |
| $150,000 | $160,879 | +$10,879 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Denver-Aurora-Centennial
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 105.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Denver-Aurora-Centennial share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 6.3 to 7.2 RPP points. Denver-Aurora-Centennial remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 19.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (22.9 to 42.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Denver-Aurora-Centennial RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 105.8 | 6.3 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 105.1 | 5.1 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 105.2 | 2.8 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 109.4 | 9.4 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 105.8 | 7.2 points Denver-Aurora-Centennial 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 Denver-Aurora-Centennial more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Denver-Aurora-Centennial is 7.3% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 105.8 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Denver-Aurora-Centennial equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $107,252 in Denver-Aurora-Centennial. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Denver-Aurora-Centennial?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Denver-Aurora-Centennial is at 146.9 (national average = 100). Denver-Aurora-Centennial 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.