Overall
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 87.7
Diff -10.9 RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Watertown-Fort Drum
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Watertown-Fort Drum is 11.1% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
11.1% less expensive
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY is 11.1% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 87.7 vs 98.6). A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands buys about the same as $88,909 in Watertown-Fort Drum; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands) vs 87.7 (Watertown-Fort Drum)
- $100k in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ≈ $88,909 purchasing power in Watertown-Fort Drum
- Rents drives the gap (-51.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:NY 98.6→87.7
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE TX × NY
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 99.7
Diff -0.9 RPP
Services
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 132.2
Diff +36.9 RPP
Rents
- Watertown-Fort Drum
- 53.2
Diff -51.3 RPP
| Category | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Watertown-Fort Drum | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.6 | 87.7 | -10.9 |
| Goods | 100.6 | 99.7 | -0.9 |
| Services | 95.3 | 132.2 | +36.9 |
| Rents | 104.5 | 53.2 | -51.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Watertown-Fort Drum 87.7
Goods
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Watertown-Fort Drum 99.7
Services
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Watertown-Fort Drum 132.2
Rents
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Watertown-Fort Drum 53.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Watertown-Fort Drum is 51.3 points lower. 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 Watertown-Fort Drum, NY sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 10.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
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.
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 $88,909 in Watertown-Fort Drum.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Watertown-Fort Drum
87.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands would need to be in Watertown-Fort Drum for the same purchasing power:
| In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | In Watertown-Fort Drum | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,454 | $-5,546 |
| $75,000 | $66,682 | $-8,318 |
| $100,000 | $88,909 | $-11,091 |
| $150,000 | $133,363 | $-16,637 |
$ in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands = in Watertown-Fort Drum
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.6 → 87.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Watertown-Fort Drum more expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Watertown-Fort Drum is 11.1% less expensive than Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. The overall cost index is 87.7 vs 98.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Watertown-Fort Drum equals $100K in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
A $100,000 salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands has the same purchasing power as $88,909 in Watertown-Fort Drum. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands and Watertown-Fort Drum?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are indexed at 104.5 while Watertown-Fort Drum is at 53.2 (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.