Overall
98.6
Below avg
Metro cost profile · 2024 BEA RPP
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
Cost-of-living indicators for Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, from Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, overall, goods, services, and rents vs the U.S. average of 100.
- 98.6
- Overall RPP
- #101
- of 387 metros
- 104.5
- Rents RPP
- $101K
- $100K national buys
Houston ranks #101 of 387 U.S. metros by cost, and its overall price index has held steady since 2008.
- stable since 2008
- similar cost to Harrisburg-Carlisle
The verdict
Houston costs less than 26% of U.S. metros, an overall index of 98.6, 1.4% below the national average, with services the biggest swing at 95.3.
- bottom 74%
- by overall cost, nationwide
- 100.6
- goods RPP, tradable items
- 95.3
- services RPP, labor-priced
A $100,000 national salary carries the purchasing power of about $101,390 here; matching a $100K lifestyle takes roughly $98,629.
Latest BEA release change
What changed from 2023 to 2024
Houston's overall RPP fell -1.1 points, from 99.7 in 2023 to 98.6 in 2024. The largest category movement was rents, changing from 106.3 to 104.5. This is a relative change against the national benchmark, not a household's dollar bill.
RPP History (2008-2024)
The cost of living has remained relatively stable, changing by only 0.8 points over this period. The largest single-year move was in 2011, when the index dropped 2.3 points from the year before, a bigger swing than the full 2008-2024 change.
Houston overall RPP, 2008-2024
Every year on record, national average = 100
| Year | Overall |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 |
| 2009 | 100.6 |
| 2010 | 101.0 |
| 2011 | 98.7 |
| 2012 | 100.0 |
| 2013 | 101.1 |
| 2014 | 102.2 |
| 2015 | 103.1 |
| 2016 | 102.4 |
| 2017 | 100.0 |
| 2018 | 101.9 |
| 2019 | 101.4 |
| 2020 | 100.0 |
| 2021 | 99.7 |
| 2022 | 98.8 |
| 2023 | 99.7 |
| 2024 | 98.6 |
Service-cost relief profile
How Houston's cost structure works
Services provide the strongest cost offset in Houston: their index is 95.3, farther below the national baseline than rents or tradable goods. The overall RPP of 98.6 therefore has a different source than a place with cheaper housing instead.
Across all reported metros, the closest component-profile matches are Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA, Carson City, NV, Flagstaff, AZ. They resemble Houston across goods, services, and rents together, so they are stronger structure peers than a place selected only because its overall RPP happens to be nearby.
Across 2008-2024, Houston's overall index has stayed within 0.8 points. This is a relative price-level history, not a prediction or a personal affordability recommendation; pair it with current local wages and housing options before making a decision.
Houston vs every U.S. metro
Where this metro sits in the national cost distribution
99 Top 26% higher than 74% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2024
Houston cost breakdown
BEA RPP by category, 100 = national average
- Rents
Rents
104.5 RPP
- Services
Services
95.3 RPP
- Overall
Overall
98.6 RPP
- Goods
Goods
100.6 RPP
What this shows Houston's strongest departure is services at 95.3; rents follows at 104.5. Labor-priced local activity, rather than housing alone, is the first budget line to investigate.
Goods vs. housing, where Houston's cost comes from
Metros near Houston's overall cost, plotted by their goods price (horizontal) and housing price (vertical). Same headline RPP, very different structures.
Read the chart as text
- Houston (Houston, this metro): goods RPP 100.6, rents RPP 104.5
- Harrisburg: goods RPP 100.7, rents RPP 96.3
- Walla Walla: goods RPP 105, rents RPP 86.6
- Santa Fe: goods RPP 96.1, rents RPP 108
- Atlantic City: goods RPP 99.8, rents RPP 98.7
- Boise City: goods RPP 96.2, rents RPP 105.6
- Barnstable Town: goods RPP 97, rents RPP 90
Price Index Summary
Goods
100.6
Above avg
Services
95.3
Below avg
Rents
104.5
Above avg
Salary Equivalent
A $100,000 salary at the national average cost of living equals:
$98,629
in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX purchasing power
$50,000 nationally
$49,315
$75,000 nationally
$73,972
$125,000 nationally
$123,286
$150,000 nationally
$147,944
$200,000 nationally
$197,258
Use the salary calculator for custom amounts.
Affordability score
F
21/100
How far the median local paycheck goes here, combining income and housing cost
Purchasing power
Not reported
Housing affordability F
21st percentile
A weighted composite (60% purchasing power, 40% housing affordability) percentile-ranked against every other tracked metro; a missing input redistributes its weight rather than deflating the score. Sources: Census ACS 5-Year 2023 (income) + BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 (cost). Vintages differ by design; see methodology.
TX-relative analysis
Services prices is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX's strongest outlier among TX metros
Among the 26 TX metros PlainCost tracks with reported services prices data, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX ranks #1 - the 96th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide rank above: it compares Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX only against its own state's metros, not the full US field.
Goods prices
#2 of 26
92nd percentile in TX
Services prices
#1 of 26
96th percentile in TX
Rent prices
#3 of 26
88th percentile in TX
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "more expensive is worse", see the national comparison above for direction context. This is a comparison within TX only, not a livability score.
Nationwide metros with similar overall cost or rent prices
Two BEA RPP-derived peer sets for Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX: nearest metros by overall regional price parity and by rents RPP. These are cross-state neighborhoods, not the in-state metro list below.
Similar overall RPP
Nearest metros by overall regional price parity (98.6 here).
Similar rents RPP
Nearest metros by rents regional price parity (104.5 here).
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Rents 104.6 Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT Rents 104.1 Portland-South Portland, ME Rents 105.2 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Rents 103.9 Burlington-South Burlington, VT Rents 103.8 Lexington Park, MD Rents 103.8 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Rents 105.5 Raleigh-Cary, NC Rents 103.5
Other TX Metros
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 103.1 Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX 98.1 Midland, TX 95.8 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 94.7 Odessa, TX 93.9 Sherman-Denison, TX 93.8
View all TX metros → Cheapest in TX → Most expensive in TX →
Decision peers
Metros with a similar cost mix
These metros are closest to Houston's combined goods, services, and rents profile. They may not have the same overall RPP, but their price pressures are shaped in a similar way.
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA
Goods 105.0 · Services 96.0 · Rents 108.2 Carson City, NV
Goods 96.3 · Services 92.7 · Rents 101.2 Flagstaff, AZ
Goods 96.2 · Services 93.8 · Rents 109.0 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
Goods 100.4 · Services 96.2 · Rents 111.0 Raleigh-Cary, NC
Goods 96.6 · Services 89.0 · Rents 103.5 Charlottesville, VA
Goods 96.8 · Services 89.0 · Rents 107.0
Metros with Similar Cost of Living
These metros have an overall RPP closest to Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX's index of 98.6.
Showing the 6 closest of 387 metro areas tracked nationally.
Shareable data card
Take this cost snapshot with you
Download the data card or share this exact metro record. The card uses the same BEA-derived values shown above.
Cost of living guides →, cheapest and most-expensive metro rankings, salary negotiation with RPP data, and step-by-step comparison walkthroughs.
Compare to Other Metros
What this means for Houston
How to read Houston's cost of living before a move, a job offer, or a budget.
- Budget to local prices, not headline pay, a $100K national salary spends like about $101,390 in Houston. Salary calculator
- Start with services: it indexes at 95.3, the largest departure from the national benchmark in this metro's BEA cost mix. Compare it with the other components before treating the overall RPP as a complete household budget.
- Compare Houston head-to-head against a specific destination before you decide. Compare metros
RPP is BEA's annual price-level benchmark for the data year shown, not a live market quote. Pair it with current local wages and housing costs before deciding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cost of living in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX?
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) index of 98.6, meaning it is 1.4% less expensive than the national average. Goods are indexed at 100.6, services at 95.3, and rents at 104.5. It ranks #101 out of 387 U.S. metro areas by overall cost.
What salary do I need in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX to match $100K nationally?
To maintain the same purchasing power as a $100,000 salary at the national average, you would need approximately $98,629 in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX. Conversely, $100K earned in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX has the purchasing power of $101,390 at the national average.
How expensive is rent in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX?
Rents in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX are indexed at 104.5, which is 4.5% above the national average. This is close to the U.S. average.
Is Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX getting more expensive?
From 2008 to 2024, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX's overall cost index changed by -0.8 points (from 99.4 to 98.6). The cost of living has remained relatively stable.
What costs the most in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX?
The priciest category in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is rents at 104.5, 4.5% above the national average. The most affordable category is services at 95.3, 4.7% below average.
What metros have a similar cost of living to Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX?
Metros with the most similar overall cost index include Harrisburg-Carlisle, Walla Walla, Santa Fe. These areas have RPP values within a few points of Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX's 98.6.
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.