Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff -5.6 RPP
Barnstable Town vs Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford is 5.7% less expensive than Barnstable Town.
5.7% less expensive
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA is 5.7% less expensive than Barnstable Town, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.7 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town buys about the same as $94,264 in Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Barnstable Town) vs 92.7 (Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford)
- $100k in Barnstable Town ≈ $94,264 purchasing power in Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford
- Services drives the gap (-70.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:VA 98.4→92.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MA × VA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA is 5.7% less expensive than Barnstable Town, MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.6-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford 70.4 points lower than Barnstable Town. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Barnstable Town to $94,264 in Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Barnstable Town and Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 14.9 to 5.6 RPP points. Barnstable Town remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 25.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (40.8 to 15.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Barnstable Town RPP | Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 102.8 | 87.9 | 14.9 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2012 | 100.9 | 88.6 | 12.4 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2016 | 105.8 | 88.4 | 17.4 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 101.3 | 91.0 | 10.2 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2024 | 98.4 | 92.7 | 5.6 points Barnstable Town higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff -0.2 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff -70.4 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff -15.6 RPP
| Category | Barnstable Town | Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 92.7 | -5.6 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 96.8 | -0.2 |
| Services | 158.4 | 88.1 | -70.4 |
| Rents | 90.0 | 74.4 | -15.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Barnstable Town 98.4
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford 92.7
Goods
Barnstable Town 97.0
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford 96.8
Services
Barnstable Town 158.4
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford 88.1
Rents
Barnstable Town 90.0
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford 74.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Barnstable Town would need to be in Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford for the same purchasing power:
| In Barnstable Town | In Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,132 | $-2,868 |
| $75,000 | $70,698 | $-4,302 |
| $100,000 | $94,264 | $-5,736 |
| $150,000 | $141,397 | $-8,603 |
$ in Barnstable Town = in Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 92.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford
92.7
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford more expensive than Barnstable Town?
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford is 5.7% less expensive than Barnstable Town. The overall cost index is 92.7 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford equals $100K in Barnstable Town?
A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town has the same purchasing power as $94,264 in Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Barnstable Town and Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford?
Rents in Barnstable Town are indexed at 90.0 while Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford is at 74.4 (national average = 100). Barnstable Town 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.