Overall
Diff -2.8 RPP
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 2.8% less expensive than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford.
2.8% less expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 2.8% less expensive than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 101.4). A $100,000 salary in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford buys about the same as $97,250 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 101.4 (Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford ≈ $97,250 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Rents drives the gap (-18.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:TX 101.4→98.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE FL × TX
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +4.4 RPP
Services
Diff +8.1 RPP
Rents
Diff -18.9 RPP
| Category | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.4 | 98.6 | -2.8 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 100.6 | +4.4 |
| Services | 87.2 | 95.3 | +8.1 |
| Rents | 123.4 | 104.5 | -18.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 101.4
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 96.2
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 87.2
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 123.4
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 18.9 points lower. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 2.8% less expensive than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 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.
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 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford corresponds to $97,250 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands.
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford
101.4
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,625 | $-1,375 |
| $75,000 | $72,937 | $-2,063 |
| $100,000 | $97,250 | $-2,750 |
| $150,000 | $145,875 | $-4,125 |
$ in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.4 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 2.8% less expensive than Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 101.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands equals $100K in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford?
A $100,000 salary in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford has the same purchasing power as $97,250 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford are indexed at 123.4 while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is at 104.5 (national average = 100). Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford 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.