Overall
- Amherst Town-Northampton
- 100.2
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 99.8
Diff -0.5 RPP
Amherst Town-Northampton vs Waterbury-Shelton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Waterbury-Shelton is 0.5% less expensive than Amherst Town-Northampton.
0.5% less expensive
Waterbury-Shelton, CT is 0.5% less expensive than Amherst Town-Northampton, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 99.8 vs 100.2). A $100,000 salary in Amherst Town-Northampton buys about the same as $99,536 in Waterbury-Shelton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 100.2 (Amherst Town-Northampton) vs 99.8 (Waterbury-Shelton)
- $100k in Amherst Town-Northampton ≈ $99,536 purchasing power in Waterbury-Shelton
- Rents drives the gap (-8.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:CT 100.2→99.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MA × CT
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Amherst Town-Northampton
100.2
Cost Index
Waterbury-Shelton
99.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA and Waterbury-Shelton, CT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Waterbury-Shelton is 8.4 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Amherst Town-Northampton is above 100 while Waterbury-Shelton is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Amherst Town-Northampton corresponds to $99,536 in Waterbury-Shelton.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 97.3
Diff +0.3 RPP
Services
- Amherst Town-Northampton
- 155.7
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 147.6
Diff -8.2 RPP
Rents
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 89.1
Diff -8.4 RPP
| Category | Amherst Town-Northampton | Waterbury-Shelton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.2 | 99.8 | -0.5 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 97.3 | +0.3 |
| Services | 155.7 | 147.6 | -8.2 |
| Rents | 97.5 | 89.1 | -8.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Amherst Town-Northampton 100.2
Waterbury-Shelton 99.8
Goods
Amherst Town-Northampton 97.0
Waterbury-Shelton 97.3
Services
Amherst Town-Northampton 155.7
Waterbury-Shelton 147.6
Rents
Amherst Town-Northampton 97.5
Waterbury-Shelton 89.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Amherst Town-Northampton would need to be in Waterbury-Shelton for the same purchasing power:
| In Amherst Town-Northampton | In Waterbury-Shelton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,768 | $-232 |
| $75,000 | $74,652 | $-348 |
| $100,000 | $99,536 | $-464 |
| $150,000 | $149,304 | $-696 |
$ in Amherst Town-Northampton = in Waterbury-Shelton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.2 → 99.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Waterbury-Shelton more expensive than Amherst Town-Northampton?
Waterbury-Shelton is 0.5% less expensive than Amherst Town-Northampton. The overall cost index is 99.8 vs 100.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Waterbury-Shelton equals $100K in Amherst Town-Northampton?
A $100,000 salary in Amherst Town-Northampton has the same purchasing power as $99,536 in Waterbury-Shelton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Amherst Town-Northampton and Waterbury-Shelton?
Rents in Amherst Town-Northampton are indexed at 97.5 while Waterbury-Shelton is at 89.1 (national average = 100). Amherst Town-Northampton has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.