Overall
- Fresno
- 102.2
Diff +3.5 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Fresno
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fresno is 3.6% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
3.6% more expensive
Fresno, CA is 3.6% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 102.2 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $103,578 in Fresno; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 102.2 (Fresno)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $103,578 purchasing power in Fresno
- Services drives the gap (+65.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:CA 98.6→102.2
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × CA
- 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
- Fresno
- 105.2
Diff +4.5 RPP
Services
- Fresno
- 161.0
Diff +65.7 RPP
Rents
- Fresno
- 95.7
Diff -8.8 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Fresno | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 102.2 | +3.5 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 105.2 | +4.5 |
| Services | 95.3 | 161.0 | +65.7 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 95.7 | -8.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Fresno 102.2
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Fresno 105.2
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Fresno 161.0
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Fresno 95.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Fresno is 65.7 points higher. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Fresno, CA is 3.6% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.5-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fresno 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 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 $103,578 in Fresno, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Fresno
102.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Fresno for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Fresno | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,789 | +$1,789 |
| $75,000 | $77,684 | +$2,684 |
| $100,000 | $103,578 | +$3,578 |
| $150,000 | $155,367 | +$5,367 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Fresno
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 102.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fresno more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Fresno is 3.6% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 102.2 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fresno equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $103,578 in Fresno. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Fresno?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Fresno is at 95.7 (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.