Overall
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 96.9
Diff +1.7 RPP
Milwaukee-Waukesha vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 1.7% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha.
1.7% more expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 1.7% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 96.9). A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha buys about the same as $101,745 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 96.9 (Milwaukee-Waukesha) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in Milwaukee-Waukesha ≈ $101,745 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Rents drives the gap (+7.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:TX 96.9→98.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × TX
- RENT-LED Rent-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.
Milwaukee-Waukesha
96.9
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents leads the difference, with Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 7.4 points higher than Milwaukee-Waukesha. 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 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 Milwaukee-Waukesha corresponds to $101,745 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 93.8
Diff +6.9 RPP
Services
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 91.6
Diff +3.7 RPP
Rents
- Milwaukee-Waukesha
- 97.1
Diff +7.4 RPP
| Category | Milwaukee-Waukesha | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.9 | 98.6 | +1.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 100.6 | +6.9 |
| Services | 91.6 | 95.3 | +3.7 |
| Rents | 97.1 | 104.5 | +7.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Milwaukee-Waukesha 96.9
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
Milwaukee-Waukesha 93.8
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
Milwaukee-Waukesha 91.6
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
Milwaukee-Waukesha 97.1
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Milwaukee-Waukesha and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 1.7 to 1.7 RPP points. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 8.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (5.1 to 3.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Milwaukee-Waukesha RPP | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.7 | 99.4 | 1.7 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2012 | 97.6 | 100.0 | 2.5 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2016 | 99.1 | 102.4 | 3.3 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 95.7 | 100.0 | 4.2 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2024 | 96.9 | 98.6 | 1.7 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In Milwaukee-Waukesha | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,873 | +$873 |
| $75,000 | $76,309 | +$1,309 |
| $100,000 | $101,745 | +$1,745 |
| $150,000 | $152,618 | +$2,618 |
$ in Milwaukee-Waukesha = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.9 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 1.7% more expensive than Milwaukee-Waukesha. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 96.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands equals $100K in Milwaukee-Waukesha?
A $100,000 salary in Milwaukee-Waukesha has the same purchasing power as $101,745 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Milwaukee-Waukesha and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in Milwaukee-Waukesha are indexed at 97.1 while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is at 104.5 (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.