Overall
Diff -0.4 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Prescott Valley-Prescott
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Prescott Valley-Prescott is 0.4% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
0.4% less expensive
Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ is 0.4% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $99,621 in Prescott Valley-Prescott; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 98.3 (Prescott Valley-Prescott)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $99,621 purchasing power in Prescott Valley-Prescott
- Rents drives the gap (-5.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:AZ 98.6→98.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × AZ
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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
Prescott Valley-Prescott
98.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents leads the difference, with Prescott Valley-Prescott 5.7 points lower 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.
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 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 $99,621 in Prescott Valley-Prescott.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -4.4 RPP
Services
Diff -3.8 RPP
Rents
Diff -5.7 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 98.3 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 96.2 | -4.4 |
| Services | 95.3 | 91.5 | -3.8 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 98.8 | -5.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.3
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Prescott Valley-Prescott 96.2
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Prescott Valley-Prescott 91.5
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Prescott Valley-Prescott 98.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Prescott Valley-Prescott share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.5 to 0.4 RPP points. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (10.2 to 5.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Prescott Valley-Prescott RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 103.0 | 3.5 points Prescott Valley-Prescott higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 96.5 | 3.5 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 98.6 | 3.7 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 93.2 | 6.8 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 98.3 | 0.4 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Prescott Valley-Prescott for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Prescott Valley-Prescott | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,810 | $-190 |
| $75,000 | $74,716 | $-284 |
| $100,000 | $99,621 | $-379 |
| $150,000 | $149,431 | $-569 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Prescott Valley-Prescott
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Prescott Valley-Prescott more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Prescott Valley-Prescott is 0.4% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Prescott Valley-Prescott equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $99,621 in Prescott Valley-Prescott. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Prescott Valley-Prescott?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Prescott Valley-Prescott is at 98.8 (national average = 100). Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 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.