Route comparison
Austin, TX vs Houston, TX: Cost of Living
Compare Austin, TX and Houston, TX using historical BEA 2024 price indexes and HUD FY2027 2-bedroom FMR benchmarks. Add your own salary, lease and moving quote to a budget summary.
Austin, TX
TX
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 98.066
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 120.361
- 2024 goods RPP
- 93.757
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $1,817/mo
BEA: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX (Metropolitan Statistical Area). HUD: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX MSA (Bastrop County, Caldwell County, Hays County, Travis County, Williamson County). These historical rows were checked September 14, 2026.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
Houston, TX
TX
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 98.629
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 104.51
- 2024 goods RPP
- 100.639
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $1,497/mo
City name is shorthand for an area benchmark. This September 2026 review did not recheck this area's full BEA/HUD geographic mapping.
Income tax and payroll deductions are not calculated. Confirm take-home pay for your work and home addresses separately.
Historical RPP salary illustration
In the BEA 2024 benchmark, Houston, TX has a higher overall price level than Austin, TX by about 0.6% (RPP 98.066 to 98.629).
$60,000 in Austin, TX
-> $60,344
in Houston, TX
$100,000 in Austin, TX
-> $100,574
in Houston, TX
$150,000 in Austin, TX
-> $150,861
in Houston, TX
Salary illustrations use BEA 2024 overall Regional Price Parities (RPP) only, before tax and household-specific adjustments. Overall RPP already includes housing. HUD FY2027 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a separate historical gross-rent benchmark, not a current lease or median rent. Do not add rent to the RPP salary figure. Your lease and moving quote belong in a separate budget. Not financial advice.
Step 2: what will the move itself cost?
Put your actual lease, deposit, overlap rent and mover quote beside the historical salary illustration. Leave amounts you do not yet know blank.
Migration signal: Austin, TX vs Houston, TX
IRS tax-return migration · 2022-2023Austin, TX
- Net people
- +17,386
- Net rank
- #5 of 65
- Top origin share
- 8%
- Top destination share
- 7%
Largest source: Harris County, TX. Largest destination: Harris County, TX.
Houston, TX
- Net people
- +22,511
- Net rank
- #2 of 65
- Top origin share
- 4%
- Top destination share
- 5%
Largest source: Travis County, TX. Largest destination: Travis County, TX.
Rent delta: Houston, TX is $320/mo lower for HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR than Austin, TX. Housing RPP moves from 120.361 to 104.51.
Migration figures are derived from IRS SOI county-to-county migration data for 2022-2023, mapped to metros via Census CBSA delineation. Small county-to-county flows are IRS-suppressed, so per-metro totals are lower bounds. Source: IRS SOI migration data.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Houston, TX cheaper or more expensive than Austin, TX?
- In the BEA 2024 benchmark, Houston, TX (RPP 98.629) has an overall price level about 0.6% higher than Austin, TX (RPP 98.066). This does not measure your current household costs.
- What salary do I need in Houston, TX if I earn $100,000 in Austin, TX?
- The historical RPP illustration is approximately $100,574 in Houston, TX, using $100,000 x (98.629 / 98.066). It uses BEA 2024 overall price indexes before tax and household adjustments; HUD rent is not added to this figure.
- Which metro had stronger net migration, Austin, TX or Houston, TX?
- For 2022-2023, Austin, TX had a net gain of 17,386 people, while Houston, TX had a net gain of 22,511 people. IRS small-flow suppression means these are lower-bound research signals, not complete population-change totals.