Overall
- Vallejo
- 108.5
Diff -9.8 RPP
Vallejo vs Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 9.1% less expensive than Vallejo.
9.1% less expensive
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 9.1% less expensive than Vallejo, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.6 vs 108.5). A $100,000 salary in Vallejo buys about the same as $90,920 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 108.5 (Vallejo) vs 98.6 (Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands)
- $100k in Vallejo ≈ $90,920 purchasing power in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
- Services drives the gap (-59.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:TX 108.5→98.6
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × TX
- SERVICES-LED Services-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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Vallejo, CA and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 9.8 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Vallejo 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.
Services leads the difference, with Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 59.7 points lower than Vallejo. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Vallejo to $90,920 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Vallejo
- 105.2
Diff -4.5 RPP
Services
- Vallejo
- 155.0
Diff -59.7 RPP
Rents
- Vallejo
- 142.0
Diff -37.5 RPP
| Category | Vallejo | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 108.5 | 98.6 | -9.8 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 100.6 | -4.5 |
| Services | 155.0 | 95.3 | -59.7 |
| Rents | 142.0 | 104.5 | -37.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Vallejo 108.5
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 98.6
Goods
Vallejo 105.2
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 100.6
Services
Vallejo 155.0
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 95.3
Rents
Vallejo 142.0
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands 104.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Vallejo would need to be in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands for the same purchasing power:
| In Vallejo | In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $45,460 | $-4,540 |
| $75,000 | $68,190 | $-6,810 |
| $100,000 | $90,920 | $-9,080 |
| $150,000 | $136,380 | $-13,620 |
$ in Vallejo = in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (108.5 → 98.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Vallejo
108.5
Cost Index
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands
98.6
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands more expensive than Vallejo?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is 9.1% less expensive than Vallejo. The overall cost index is 98.6 vs 108.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands equals $100K in Vallejo?
A $100,000 salary in Vallejo has the same purchasing power as $90,920 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Vallejo and Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands?
Rents in Vallejo are indexed at 142.0 while Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands is at 104.5 (national average = 100). Vallejo 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.