Overall
- Jacksonville
- 99.5
Diff +0.9 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Jacksonville
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Jacksonville is 0.9% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
0.9% more expensive
Jacksonville, FL is 0.9% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 99.5 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $100,867 in Jacksonville; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 99.5 (Jacksonville)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $100,867 purchasing power in Jacksonville
- Services drives the gap (-7.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:FL 98.6→99.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × FL
- 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
Jacksonville
99.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Jacksonville, FL are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.9 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Jacksonville is 7.8 points lower. But services and goods 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 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 $100,867 in Jacksonville, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Jacksonville
- 96.2
Diff -4.4 RPP
Services
- Jacksonville
- 87.5
Diff -7.8 RPP
Rents
- Jacksonville
- 109.8
Diff +5.3 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Jacksonville | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 99.5 | +0.9 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 96.2 | -4.4 |
| Services | 95.3 | 87.5 | -7.8 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 109.8 | +5.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Jacksonville 99.5
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Jacksonville 96.2
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Jacksonville 87.5
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Jacksonville 109.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Jacksonville for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Jacksonville | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,433 | +$433 |
| $75,000 | $75,650 | +$650 |
| $100,000 | $100,867 | +$867 |
| $150,000 | $151,300 | +$1,300 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Jacksonville
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 99.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jacksonville more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Jacksonville is 0.9% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 99.5 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Jacksonville equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $100,867 in Jacksonville. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Jacksonville?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Jacksonville is at 109.8 (national average = 100). Jacksonville 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.