Overall
Diff +11.9 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is 12.1% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
12.1% more expensive
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA is 12.1% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 110.5 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $112,070 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 110.5 (Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $112,070 purchasing power in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
- Rents drives the gap (+66.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:CA 98.6→110.5
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE TX × CA
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $56,035 | +$6,035 |
| $75,000 | $84,053 | +$9,053 |
| $100,000 | $112,070 | +$12,070 |
| $150,000 | $168,106 | +$18,106 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 110.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 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 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 66.6 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 $112,070 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +4.5 RPP
Services
Diff +57.6 RPP
Rents
Diff +66.6 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 110.5 | +11.9 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 105.2 | +4.5 |
| Services | 95.3 | 152.9 | +57.6 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 171.1 | +66.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 110.5
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 105.2
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 152.9
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 171.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
110.5
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 10.1 to 11.9 RPP points. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 45.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.3 to 57.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 109.5 | 10.1 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 110.4 | 10.4 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 111.2 | 8.8 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 111.3 | 11.4 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 110.5 | 11.9 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is 12.1% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 110.5 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $112,070 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is at 171.1 (national average = 100). Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 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.