Overall
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
- 103.3
Diff +4.7 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler is 4.8% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
4.8% more expensive
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ is 4.8% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.3 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $104,752 in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 103.3 (Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $104,752 purchasing power in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
- Rents drives the gap (+16.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:AZ 98.6→103.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × AZ
- 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 -5.6 RPP
Services
Diff -2.0 RPP
Rents
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
- 121.2
Diff +16.7 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 103.3 | +4.7 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 95.0 | -5.6 |
| Services | 95.3 | 93.3 | -2.0 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 121.2 | +16.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 103.3
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 95.0
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 93.3
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 121.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler is 16.7 points higher. But goods and services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ is 4.8% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 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 $104,752 in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
103.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,376 | +$2,376 |
| $75,000 | $78,564 | +$3,564 |
| $100,000 | $104,752 | +$4,752 |
| $150,000 | $157,128 | +$7,128 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 103.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 6.3 to 4.7 RPP points. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Goods changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (9.7 to 5.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 105.7 | 6.3 points Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 98.7 | 1.3 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 100.4 | 1.9 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 102.8 | 2.8 points Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 103.3 | 4.7 points Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 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 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler is 4.8% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 103.3 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $104,752 in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler is at 121.2 (national average = 100). Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 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.