Route comparison
Houston, TX vs San Antonio, TX: Cost of Living
Compare Houston, TX and San Antonio, 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.
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.
San Antonio, TX
TX
- 2024 overall RPP (US=100)
- 94.716
- 2024 housing-rent RPP
- 94.575
- 2024 goods RPP
- 93.757
- HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR
- $1,441/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, San Antonio, TX has a lower overall price level than Houston, TX by about 4.0% (RPP 98.629 to 94.716).
$60,000 in Houston, TX
-> $57,620
in San Antonio, TX
$100,000 in Houston, TX
-> $96,033
in San Antonio, TX
$150,000 in Houston, TX
-> $144,049
in San Antonio, 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: Houston, TX vs San Antonio, TX
IRS tax-return migration · 2022-2023Houston, 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.
San Antonio, TX
- Net people
- +16,015
- Net rank
- #6 of 65
- Top origin share
- 6%
- Top destination share
- 7%
Largest source: Travis County, TX. Largest destination: Travis County, TX.
Rent delta: San Antonio, TX is $56/mo lower for HUD FY2027 2-BR FMR than Houston, TX. Housing RPP moves from 104.51 to 94.575.
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 San Antonio, TX cheaper or more expensive than Houston, TX?
- In the BEA 2024 benchmark, San Antonio, TX (RPP 94.716) has an overall price level about 4.0% lower than Houston, TX (RPP 98.629). This does not measure your current household costs.
- What salary do I need in San Antonio, TX if I earn $100,000 in Houston, TX?
- The historical RPP illustration is approximately $96,033 in San Antonio, TX, using $100,000 x (94.716 / 98.629). 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, Houston, TX or San Antonio, TX?
- For 2022-2023, Houston, TX had a net gain of 22,511 people, while San Antonio, TX had a net gain of 16,015 people. IRS small-flow suppression means these are lower-bound research signals, not complete population-change totals.