Overall
Diff -0.8 RPP
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission vs Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 0.9% less expensive than McAllen-Edinburg-Mission.
0.9% less expensive
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA is 0.9% less expensive than McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.1 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission buys about the same as $99,078 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission) vs 85.1 (Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux)
- $100k in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission ≈ $99,078 purchasing power in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
- Services drives the gap (-9.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:LA 85.9→85.1
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × LA
- SERVICES-LED Services-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.
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission
85.9
Cost Index
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
85.1
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 9.9 points lower than McAllen-Edinburg-Mission. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission to $99,078 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
Diff -9.9 RPP
Rents
Diff -4.6 RPP
| Category | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 85.1 | -0.8 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.7 | -0.1 |
| Services | 81.2 | 71.3 | -9.9 |
| Rents | 55.9 | 51.3 | -4.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 85.9
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 85.1
Goods
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 93.8
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 93.7
Services
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 81.2
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 71.3
Rents
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 55.9
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 51.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission would need to be in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux for the same purchasing power:
| In McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | In Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,539 | $-461 |
| $75,000 | $74,308 | $-692 |
| $100,000 | $99,078 | $-922 |
| $150,000 | $148,617 | $-1,383 |
$ in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission = in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 85.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux more expensive than McAllen-Edinburg-Mission?
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 0.9% less expensive than McAllen-Edinburg-Mission. The overall cost index is 85.1 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux equals $100K in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission?
A $100,000 salary in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission has the same purchasing power as $99,078 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux?
Rents in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission are indexed at 55.9 while Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is at 51.3 (national average = 100). McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 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.