Overall
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- 111.1
Diff +12.5 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue is 12.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
12.7% more expensive
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA is 12.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 111.1 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $112,678 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 111.1 (Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $112,678 purchasing power in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- Rents drives the gap (+46.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:WA 98.6→111.1
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE TX × WA
- 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
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- 104.0
Diff +3.3 RPP
Services
Diff -2.5 RPP
Rents
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- 151.3
Diff +46.8 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 111.1 | +12.5 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 104.0 | +3.3 |
| Services | 95.3 | 92.8 | -2.5 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 151.3 | +46.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 111.1
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 104.0
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 92.8
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 151.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue is 46.8 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.5 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 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 $112,678 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
111.1
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $56,339 | +$6,339 |
| $75,000 | $84,508 | +$9,508 |
| $100,000 | $112,678 | +$12,678 |
| $150,000 | $169,017 | +$19,017 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 111.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 9.7 to 12.5 RPP points. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 13.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (16.3 to 2.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 109.1 | 9.7 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 105.3 | 5.3 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 110.2 | 7.8 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 113.0 | 13.1 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 111.1 | 12.5 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue is 12.7% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 111.1 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $112,678 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue is at 151.3 (national average = 100). Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 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.