Overall
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 99.8
Diff +1.1 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Waterbury-Shelton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Waterbury-Shelton is 1.2% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
1.2% more expensive
Waterbury-Shelton, CT is 1.2% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 99.8 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $101,165 in Waterbury-Shelton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 99.8 (Waterbury-Shelton)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $101,165 purchasing power in Waterbury-Shelton
- Services drives the gap (+52.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:CT 98.6→99.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × CT
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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
Waterbury-Shelton
99.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX and Waterbury-Shelton, CT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Waterbury-Shelton is 52.3 points higher. But rents and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands to $101,165 in Waterbury-Shelton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 97.3
Diff -3.3 RPP
Services
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 147.6
Diff +52.3 RPP
Rents
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 89.1
Diff -15.4 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Waterbury-Shelton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 99.8 | +1.1 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 97.3 | -3.3 |
| Services | 95.3 | 147.6 | +52.3 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 89.1 | -15.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Waterbury-Shelton 99.8
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Waterbury-Shelton 97.3
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Waterbury-Shelton 147.6
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Waterbury-Shelton 89.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Waterbury-Shelton for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Waterbury-Shelton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,582 | +$582 |
| $75,000 | $75,874 | +$874 |
| $100,000 | $101,165 | +$1,165 |
| $150,000 | $151,747 | +$1,747 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Waterbury-Shelton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 99.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Waterbury-Shelton more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Waterbury-Shelton is 1.2% more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 99.8 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Waterbury-Shelton equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $101,165 in Waterbury-Shelton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Waterbury-Shelton?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Waterbury-Shelton is at 89.1 (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.