Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
- Manchester-Nashua
- 105.7
Diff +7.3 RPP
Barnstable Town vs Manchester-Nashua
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Manchester-Nashua is 7.4% more expensive than Barnstable Town.
7.4% more expensive
Manchester-Nashua, NH is 7.4% more expensive than Barnstable Town, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 105.7 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town buys about the same as $107,428 in Manchester-Nashua; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Barnstable Town) vs 105.7 (Manchester-Nashua)
- $100k in Barnstable Town ≈ $107,428 purchasing power in Manchester-Nashua
- Rents drives the gap (+44.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:NH 98.4→105.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MA × NH
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
- Manchester-Nashua
- 97.7
Diff +0.7 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
- Manchester-Nashua
- 133.5
Diff -24.9 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
- Manchester-Nashua
- 134.2
Diff +44.2 RPP
| Category | Barnstable Town | Manchester-Nashua | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 105.7 | +7.3 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 97.7 | +0.7 |
| Services | 158.4 | 133.5 | -24.9 |
| Rents | 90.0 | 134.2 | +44.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Barnstable Town 98.4
Manchester-Nashua 105.7
Goods
Barnstable Town 97.0
Manchester-Nashua 97.7
Services
Barnstable Town 158.4
Manchester-Nashua 133.5
Rents
Barnstable Town 90.0
Manchester-Nashua 134.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Manchester-Nashua is 44.2 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Manchester-Nashua, NH is 7.4% more expensive than Barnstable Town, MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 7.3-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Manchester-Nashua is above 100 while Barnstable Town is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Barnstable Town corresponds to $107,428 in Manchester-Nashua.
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Manchester-Nashua
105.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Barnstable Town would need to be in Manchester-Nashua for the same purchasing power:
| In Barnstable Town | In Manchester-Nashua | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,714 | +$3,714 |
| $75,000 | $80,571 | +$5,571 |
| $100,000 | $107,428 | +$7,428 |
| $150,000 | $161,143 | +$11,143 |
$ in Barnstable Town = in Manchester-Nashua
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 105.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Manchester-Nashua more expensive than Barnstable Town?
Manchester-Nashua is 7.4% more expensive than Barnstable Town. The overall cost index is 105.7 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Manchester-Nashua equals $100K in Barnstable Town?
A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town has the same purchasing power as $107,428 in Manchester-Nashua. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Barnstable Town and Manchester-Nashua?
Rents in Barnstable Town are indexed at 90.0 while Manchester-Nashua is at 134.2 (national average = 100). Manchester-Nashua 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.