Overall
- Tucson
- 96.9
Diff -1.7 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Tucson
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Tucson is 1.8% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
1.8% less expensive
Tucson, AZ is 1.8% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.9 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $98,243 in Tucson; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 96.9 (Tucson)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $98,243 purchasing power in Tucson
- Rents drives the gap (-12.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:AZ 98.6→96.9
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
Tucson
96.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Tucson, AZ are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents leads the difference, with Tucson 12.7 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 $98,243 in Tucson.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Tucson
- 96.2
Diff -4.4 RPP
Services
- Tucson
- 89.5
Diff -5.8 RPP
Rents
- Tucson
- 91.8
Diff -12.7 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Tucson | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 96.9 | -1.7 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 96.2 | -4.4 |
| Services | 95.3 | 89.5 | -5.8 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 91.8 | -12.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Tucson 96.9
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Tucson 96.2
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Tucson 89.5
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Tucson 91.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Tucson share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 2.4 to 1.7 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 9.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.9 to 12.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Tucson RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 97.1 | 2.4 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2012 | 100.0 | 100.6 | 0.5 points Tucson higher |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 96.6 | 5.8 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 100.0 | 94.0 | 5.9 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2024 | 98.6 | 96.9 | 1.7 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 Tucson for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Tucson | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,121 | $-879 |
| $75,000 | $73,682 | $-1,318 |
| $100,000 | $98,243 | $-1,757 |
| $150,000 | $147,364 | $-2,636 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Tucson
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 96.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tucson more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Tucson is 1.8% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 96.9 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Tucson equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $98,243 in Tucson. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Tucson?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Tucson is at 91.8 (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.