Overall
- Springfield
- 96.1
Diff +2.6 RPP
Springfield vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 2.7% more expensive than Springfield.
2.7% more expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 2.7% more expensive than Springfield, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 96.1). A $100,000 salary in Springfield buys about the same as $102,673 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 96.1 (Springfield) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in Springfield ≈ $102,673 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Services drives the gap (-59.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:TX 96.1→98.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MA × TX
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
- Springfield
- 97.0
Diff +3.6 RPP
Services
- Springfield
- 155.0
Diff -59.7 RPP
Rents
- Springfield
- 75.8
Diff +28.7 RPP
| Category | Springfield | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.1 | 98.6 | +2.6 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 100.6 | +3.6 |
| Services | 155.0 | 95.3 | -59.7 |
| Rents | 75.8 | 104.5 | +28.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Springfield 96.1
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
Springfield 97.0
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
Springfield 155.0
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
Springfield 75.8
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 59.7 points lower. But services 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 2.7% more expensive than Springfield, MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.6-point overall gap.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Springfield to $102,673 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Springfield
96.1
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Springfield would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In Springfield | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,337 | +$1,337 |
| $75,000 | $77,005 | +$2,005 |
| $100,000 | $102,673 | +$2,673 |
| $150,000 | $154,010 | +$4,010 |
$ in Springfield = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.1 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Springfield and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.0 to 2.6 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 21.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (38.6 to 59.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Springfield RPP | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.5 | 99.4 | 0.0 points Springfield higher |
| 2012 | 97.8 | 100.0 | 2.3 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2016 | 99.4 | 102.4 | 3.0 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2020 | 99.1 | 100.0 | 0.9 points Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands higher |
| 2024 | 96.1 | 98.6 | 2.6 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than Springfield?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 2.7% more expensive than Springfield. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 96.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands equals $100K in Springfield?
A $100,000 salary in Springfield has the same purchasing power as $102,673 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Springfield and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in Springfield are indexed at 75.8 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.