Overall
Diff +15.5 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is 15.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
15.7% more expensive
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL is 15.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 114.2 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $115,742 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 114.2 (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $115,742 purchasing power in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
- Rents drives the gap (+51.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:FL 98.6→114.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE TX × FL
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $57,871 | +$7,871 |
| $75,000 | $86,806 | +$11,806 |
| $100,000 | $115,742 | +$15,742 |
| $150,000 | $173,613 | +$23,613 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 114.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 15.5 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 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.
Rents leads the difference, with Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 51.0 points higher 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 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 $115,742 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +2.9 RPP
Services
Diff +1.9 RPP
Rents
Diff +51.0 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 114.2 | +15.5 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 103.6 | +2.9 |
| Services | 95.3 | 97.2 | +1.9 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 155.6 | +51.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 114.2
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 103.6
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 97.2
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 155.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
114.2
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is 15.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 114.2 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $115,742 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is at 155.6 (national average = 100). Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 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.