Overall
- Dover
- 97.5
Diff -1.1 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Dover
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dover is 1.1% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
1.1% less expensive
Dover, DE is 1.1% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.5 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $98,862 in Dover; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 97.5 (Dover)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $98,862 purchasing power in Dover
- Rents drives the gap (-8.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:DE 98.6→97.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × DE
- 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
Dover
97.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Dover, DE are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Dover is 8.6 points lower. But services 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 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 $98,862 in Dover.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Dover
- 96.4
Diff -4.3 RPP
Services
- Dover
- 97.2
Diff +1.9 RPP
Rents
- Dover
- 95.9
Diff -8.6 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Dover | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 97.5 | -1.1 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 96.4 | -4.3 |
| Services | 95.3 | 97.2 | +1.9 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 95.9 | -8.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Dover 97.5
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Dover 96.4
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Dover 97.2
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Dover 95.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Dover share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.7 to 1.1 RPP points. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 7.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (9.5 to 1.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Dover RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 96.8 | 2.7 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 97.3 | 2.7 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 100.3 | 2.1 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 93.9 | 6.1 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 97.5 | 1.1 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Dover for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Dover | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,431 | $-569 |
| $75,000 | $74,147 | $-853 |
| $100,000 | $98,862 | $-1,138 |
| $150,000 | $148,294 | $-1,706 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Dover
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 97.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dover more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Dover is 1.1% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 97.5 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dover equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $98,862 in Dover. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Dover?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Dover is at 95.9 (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.