Benchmark relocation brief
New York to Houston
On a benchmark software-engineer offer, moving from New York to Houston adds $65.1K in net worth over 10 years after real taxes and cost of living, breaking even in year 1. The move stays ahead down to about $105.1K in Houston — the benchmark offer has $24.4K of headroom.
Route
Current city
New York, United States
Destination
Houston, United States
Page URL: /compare/new-york-to-houston
Benchmark verdict
The route clears the benchmark.
+$65.1K over 10 years
Salary benchmark
$167k to $129k
-22% vs current city
Cost index
160 to 99
-38% vs current city
Break-even
Year 1
Within 10-year benchmark horizon
Salary gap
Cleared
Benchmark offer clears break-even salary
Net worth benchmark
New York
$152K
Houston
$218K
Assumptions, sources, currency
Estimates, not financial advice
Your inputs
Salary, monthly spend, net worth, raises, savings rate, return, and horizon.
Currency model
All money values you enter are treated as USD. Tax lookups convert to each tax table's anchor currency using an ECB reference-rate snapshot (as of 2026-07-02).
Salary basis
Salaries are annual gross pay; take-home is estimated per city (see Tax model).
Salary benchmarks
New York: BLS OEWS May 2025 median wage — New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro (official). Houston: BLS OEWS May 2025 median wage — Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro (official). Snapshot refreshed 2026-07-03.
Cost-of-living index
New York: MoveWorth curated index (city-core costs, US avg = 100). Houston: Derived from Census ACS metro rent, calibrated to the curated index. 100 = US average.
Rent baseline
US rent baselines in the Money section prefer the actual measured median (Census ACS 5-Year, table B25031, https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5/groups/B25031.html) by bedroom for the city's metro area, falling back to official HUD Fair Market Rents (FY2026, Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html) where ACS has no data for that city or bedroom size. Non-US rent remains unconnected in v1.
Tax model
Estimated income tax + employee social contributions. US cities use 2025 federal brackets + state + FICA; UK cities use real PolicyEngine income tax + National Insurance (Scotland's separate bands included); elsewhere an OECD-anchored effective rate. New York 35%, Houston 23%. Household: single. Estimate, not a filing model.
Financial math
Compounded net worth from after-tax savings and expected annual returns.
Uncertainty band
The break-even chart's shaded band reruns your numbers ~300 times, nudging investment return, raises, and cost-of-living growth within typical historical swings. It shows a plausible range, not a guarantee, and is seeded from your inputs so it won't change on reload.
Culture & wellbeing
Life expectancy (World Bank) and life satisfaction (Our World in Data) are live, official per-country figures. Languages, English proficiency band, and marriage-equality status are hand-compiled reference facts, not a live feed — verify before relying on them for a legal decision.
Open-Meteo
Live current conditions, 7-day forecast, and current air quality (PM2.5, US AQI) for both city coordinates.
Live city signals
Open-Meteo, weather + air quality
New York
Houston
City comparison
Cost of living index?
Houston is approximately 38% cheaper than New York.
New York — industries
New York — lifestyle
Run the real decision
The benchmark is only a map. Use your actual offer, spend, household, and risk profile.
Common questions
Is moving from New York to Houston worth it financially?
On a benchmark software-engineer offer, moving from New York to Houston adds about $65.1K to net worth over 10 years, breaking even in year 1. Your own salary, spending, and household can flip this — run the simulation with your real numbers.
What salary do I need in Houston to make the move break even?
About $105.1K — the benchmark offer of $129.4K clears it by $24.4K.
How does the cost of living in Houston compare to New York?
Houston indexes at 99 vs New York at 160 (US average = 100), so day-to-day costs are about 38% lower.
How do software engineer salaries compare between New York and Houston?
Benchmark software-engineer pay is $129.4K in Houston vs $166.8K in New York (USD-equivalent, sourced market medians — see the sources section for provenance).
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