Huntington, WV vs Houston, TX
Moving from Huntington to Houston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($166,506 → $308,306 median home) and taxes.
Huntington vs Houston 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 Huntington, WV, you'd need about $113,196 in Houston, TX (+$13,196).
Livability — Huntington, WV: 77 · Houston, TX: 75 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 5,107 sqft in Huntington vs 3,406 sqft in Houston ($98 vs $147 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Huntington, WV | Houston, TX | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $13,128 | $19,668 | +$6,540 |
| Groceries | $4,773 | $5,085 | +$311 |
| Transportation | $3,410 | $3,675 | +$265 |
| Utilities | $1,740 | $1,836 | +$96 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $3,600 | +$2,300 |
| Taxes | $8,423 | $7,399 | −$1,023 |
| Total | $32,774 | $41,263 | +$8,489 |
Side by side
| Metric | Huntington, WV | Houston, TX |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 88.1 | 99.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.32% | 5.96% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -0.4% | 7.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.01 | $5.67 |
| Median home price | $166,506 | $308,306 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.0× | 3.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.5% | -2.0% |
| Price per square foot | $98 | $147 |
| Median rent | $1,094 | $1,639 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.8% | 8.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.55% | 8.20% |
| Capital gains tax | 5.12% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.71% | 1.79% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,000 | $9,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.66% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 24 | 30 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $3,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,700 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $650 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 16.1 | 17.0 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.30 | 3.00 |
| Natural gas / mo | $68 | $52 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $253 | $134 |
| Home internet / mo | $73 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 280 | 430 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 96 |
| Avg winter low °F | 26 | 38 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 45.5 | 55.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 12.0 | 0.1 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 55% | 59% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 2 |