Overall
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 98.2
Diff +0.4 RPP
Provo-Orem-Lehi vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 0.4% more expensive than Provo-Orem-Lehi.
0.4% more expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 0.4% more expensive than Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 98.2). A $100,000 salary in Provo-Orem-Lehi buys about the same as $100,404 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.2 (Provo-Orem-Lehi) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in Provo-Orem-Lehi ≈ $100,404 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Services drives the gap (+16.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair UT:TX 98.2→98.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE UT × TX
- 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.
Provo-Orem-Lehi
98.2
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 16.7 points higher than Provo-Orem-Lehi. 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 Provo-Orem-Lehi to $100,404 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 96.4
Diff +4.2 RPP
Services
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 78.6
Diff +16.7 RPP
Rents
- Provo-Orem-Lehi
- 104.1
Diff +0.4 RPP
| Category | Provo-Orem-Lehi | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.2 | 98.6 | +0.4 |
| Goods | 96.4 | 100.6 | +4.2 |
| Services | 78.6 | 95.3 | +16.7 |
| Rents | 104.1 | 104.5 | +0.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Provo-Orem-Lehi 98.2
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
Provo-Orem-Lehi 96.4
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
Provo-Orem-Lehi 78.6
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
Provo-Orem-Lehi 104.1
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Provo-Orem-Lehi would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In Provo-Orem-Lehi | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,202 | +$202 |
| $75,000 | $75,303 | +$303 |
| $100,000 | $100,404 | +$404 |
| $150,000 | $150,606 | +$606 |
$ in Provo-Orem-Lehi = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.2 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than Provo-Orem-Lehi?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 0.4% more expensive than Provo-Orem-Lehi. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 98.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands equals $100K in Provo-Orem-Lehi?
A $100,000 salary in Provo-Orem-Lehi has the same purchasing power as $100,404 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Provo-Orem-Lehi and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in Provo-Orem-Lehi are indexed at 104.1 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.