Overall
- Helena
- 95.7
Diff -3.0 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Helena
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Helena is 3% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
3% less expensive
Helena, MT is 3% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 95.7 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $97,005 in Helena; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 95.7 (Helena)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $97,005 purchasing power in Helena
- Services drives the gap (-22.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:MT 98.6→95.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × MT
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Helena, MT is 3% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.0-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Helena 22.6 points lower than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 $97,005 in Helena, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Helena share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 3.5 to 3.0 RPP points. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (5.7 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 | Helena RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 96.0 | 3.5 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 92.0 | 8.1 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 95.6 | 6.8 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 92.0 | 8.0 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 95.7 | 3.0 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Helena
- 96.0
Diff -4.6 RPP
Services
- Helena
- 72.6
Diff -22.6 RPP
Rents
- Helena
- 90.1
Diff -14.4 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Helena | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 95.7 | -3.0 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 96.0 | -4.6 |
| Services | 95.3 | 72.6 | -22.6 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 90.1 | -14.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Helena 95.7
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Helena 96.0
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Helena 72.6
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Helena 90.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Helena for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Helena | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,502 | $-1,498 |
| $75,000 | $72,754 | $-2,246 |
| $100,000 | $97,005 | $-2,995 |
| $150,000 | $145,507 | $-4,493 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Helena
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 95.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Helena
95.7
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Helena more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Helena is 3% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 95.7 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Helena equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $97,005 in Helena. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Helena?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Helena is at 90.1 (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.