Houston, TX vs York, PA
Moving from Houston to York? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($308,306 → $309,967 median home) and taxes.
Houston vs York at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Houston, TX, you'd need about $97,345 in York, PA (−$2,655).
Livability — Houston, TX: 75 · York, PA: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 3,406 sqft in Houston vs 2,823 sqft in York ($147 vs $177 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Houston, TX | York, PA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,668 | $16,608 | −$3,060 |
| Groceries | $5,085 | $4,915 | −$169 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $3,440 | −$235 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $2,316 | +$480 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $1,200 | −$2,400 |
| Taxes | $7,399 | $9,160 | +$1,761 |
| Total | $41,263 | $37,639 | −$3,623 |
Side by side
| Metric | Houston, TX | York, PA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 99.7 | 97.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.96% | 4.60% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.6% | 3.4% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.67 | $5.52 |
| Median home price | $308,306 | $309,967 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.9× | 3.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.0% | 3.6% |
| Price per square foot | $147 | $177 |
| Median rent | $1,639 | $1,384 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 10.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 6.34% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 3.07% |
| Property tax rate | 1.79% | 1.75% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $7,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $1,200 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 21.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 3.55 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $82 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $65 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 390 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 85 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 22 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 55.6 | 44.1 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.1 | 23.1 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 59% | 56% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |
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