Overall
Diff -15.5 RPP
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 13.6% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.
13.6% less expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 13.6% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 114.2). A $100,000 salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach buys about the same as $86,399 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 114.2 (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach ≈ $86,399 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Rents drives the gap (-51.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:TX 114.2→98.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE FL × TX
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $43,200 | $-6,800 |
| $75,000 | $64,799 | $-10,201 |
| $100,000 | $86,399 | $-13,601 |
| $150,000 | $129,599 | $-20,401 |
$ in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (114.2 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 15.5 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 51.0 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 $86,399 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -2.9 RPP
Services
Diff -1.9 RPP
Rents
Diff -51.0 RPP
| Category | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 114.2 | 98.6 | -15.5 |
| Goods | 103.6 | 100.6 | -2.9 |
| Services | 97.2 | 95.3 | -1.9 |
| Rents | 155.6 | 104.5 | -51.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 114.2
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 103.6
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 97.2
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 155.6
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
114.2
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 13.6% less expensive than Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 114.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 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 $86,399 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach are indexed at 155.6 while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is at 104.5 (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.