Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 109.4
Diff +11.0 RPP
Barnstable Town vs Kahului-Wailuku
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kahului-Wailuku is 11.2% more expensive than Barnstable Town.
11.2% more expensive
Kahului-Wailuku, HI is 11.2% more expensive than Barnstable Town, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 109.4 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town buys about the same as $111,227 in Kahului-Wailuku; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Barnstable Town) vs 109.4 (Kahului-Wailuku)
- $100k in Barnstable Town ≈ $111,227 purchasing power in Kahului-Wailuku
- Services drives the gap (+32.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:HI 98.4→109.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE MA × HI
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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
Barnstable Town, MA and Kahului-Wailuku, HI sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.0 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Kahului-Wailuku is above 100 while Barnstable Town is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Services leads the difference, with Kahului-Wailuku 32.1 points higher 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 $111,227 in Kahului-Wailuku, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Barnstable Town and Kahului-Wailuku share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 4.7 to 11.0 RPP points. Kahului-Wailuku remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 31.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.7 to 32.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Barnstable Town RPP | Kahului-Wailuku RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 102.8 | 107.5 | 4.7 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2012 | 100.9 | 102.7 | 1.7 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2016 | 105.8 | 102.9 | 2.9 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 101.3 | 111.5 | 10.3 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2024 | 98.4 | 109.4 | 11.0 points Kahului-Wailuku 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
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 111.6
Diff +14.5 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 190.6
Diff +32.1 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 119.2
Diff +29.2 RPP
| Category | Barnstable Town | Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 109.4 | +11.0 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 111.6 | +14.5 |
| Services | 158.4 | 190.6 | +32.1 |
| Rents | 90.0 | 119.2 | +29.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Barnstable Town 98.4
Kahului-Wailuku 109.4
Goods
Barnstable Town 97.0
Kahului-Wailuku 111.6
Services
Barnstable Town 158.4
Kahului-Wailuku 190.6
Rents
Barnstable Town 90.0
Kahului-Wailuku 119.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Barnstable Town would need to be in Kahului-Wailuku for the same purchasing power:
| In Barnstable Town | In Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $55,614 | +$5,614 |
| $75,000 | $83,420 | +$8,420 |
| $100,000 | $111,227 | +$11,227 |
| $150,000 | $166,841 | +$16,841 |
$ in Barnstable Town = in Kahului-Wailuku
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 109.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kahului-Wailuku more expensive than Barnstable Town?
Kahului-Wailuku is 11.2% more expensive than Barnstable Town. The overall cost index is 109.4 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Kahului-Wailuku equals $100K in Barnstable Town?
A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town has the same purchasing power as $111,227 in Kahului-Wailuku. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Barnstable Town and Kahului-Wailuku?
Rents in Barnstable Town are indexed at 90.0 while Kahului-Wailuku is at 119.2 (national average = 100). Kahului-Wailuku 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.