Overall
Diff +2.8 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford is 2.8% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
2.8% more expensive
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL is 2.8% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.4 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $102,828 in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 101.4 (Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $102,828 purchasing power in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
- Rents drives the gap (+18.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:FL 98.6→101.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × FL
- 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
Diff -4.4 RPP
Services
Diff -8.1 RPP
Rents
Diff +18.9 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 101.4 | +2.8 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 96.2 | -4.4 |
| Services | 95.3 | 87.2 | -8.1 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 123.4 | +18.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 101.4
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 96.2
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 87.2
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 123.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford is 18.9 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL is 2.8% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 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 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 $102,828 in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
101.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,414 | +$1,414 |
| $75,000 | $77,121 | +$2,121 |
| $100,000 | $102,828 | +$2,828 |
| $150,000 | $154,242 | +$4,242 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 101.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford is 2.8% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 101.4 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $102,828 in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford is at 123.4 (national average = 100). Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 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.