Overall
Diff -29.1 RPP
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach vs Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 25.4% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.
25.4% less expensive
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA is 25.4% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.1 vs 114.2). A $100,000 salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach buys about the same as $74,550 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 114.2 (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach) vs 85.1 (Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux)
- $100k in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach ≈ $74,550 purchasing power in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
- Rents drives the gap (-104.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:LA 114.2→85.1
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE FL × LA
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach would need to be in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux for the same purchasing power:
| In Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | In Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $37,275 | $-12,725 |
| $75,000 | $55,913 | $-19,087 |
| $100,000 | $74,550 | $-25,450 |
| $150,000 | $111,826 | $-38,174 |
$ in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach = in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (114.2 → 85.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 29.1 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is above 100 while Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 104.2 points lower than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. 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.
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 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach corresponds to $74,550 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -9.9 RPP
Services
Diff -25.9 RPP
Rents
Diff -104.2 RPP
| Category | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 114.2 | 85.1 | -29.1 |
| Goods | 103.6 | 93.7 | -9.9 |
| Services | 97.2 | 71.3 | -25.9 |
| Rents | 155.6 | 51.3 | -104.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 114.2
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 85.1
Goods
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 103.6
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 93.7
Services
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 97.2
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 71.3
Rents
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 155.6
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux 51.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
114.2
Cost Index
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux
85.1
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 16.0 to 29.1 RPP points. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 17.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (86.9 to 104.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach RPP | Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 106.5 | 90.5 | 16.0 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2012 | 107.5 | 95.2 | 12.3 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2016 | 107.9 | 95.1 | 12.8 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2020 | 109.5 | 92.2 | 17.4 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach higher |
| 2024 | 114.2 | 85.1 | 29.1 points Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 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 Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux more expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is 25.4% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. The overall cost index is 85.1 vs 114.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux equals $100K in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
A $100,000 salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach has the same purchasing power as $74,550 in Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux?
Rents in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach are indexed at 155.6 while Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux is at 51.3 (national average = 100). Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 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.