Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff +15.8 RPP
Barnstable Town vs Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is 16.1% more expensive than Barnstable Town.
16.1% more expensive
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL is 16.1% more expensive than Barnstable Town, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 114.2 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town buys about the same as $116,069 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Barnstable Town) vs 114.2 (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach)
- $100k in Barnstable Town ≈ $116,069 purchasing power in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
- Rents drives the gap (+65.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:FL 98.4→114.2
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE MA × FL
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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
Diff +6.5 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff -61.2 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff +65.5 RPP
| Category | Barnstable Town | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 114.2 | +15.8 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 103.6 | +6.5 |
| Services | 158.4 | 97.2 | -61.2 |
| Rents | 90.0 | 155.6 | +65.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Barnstable Town 98.4
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 114.2
Goods
Barnstable Town 97.0
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 103.6
Services
Barnstable Town 158.4
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 97.2
Rents
Barnstable Town 90.0
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 155.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is 65.5 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Barnstable Town, MA and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 15.8 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 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 $116,069 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
114.2
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Barnstable Town would need to be in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach for the same purchasing power:
| In Barnstable Town | In Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $58,034 | +$8,034 |
| $75,000 | $87,052 | +$12,052 |
| $100,000 | $116,069 | +$16,069 |
| $150,000 | $174,103 | +$24,103 |
$ in Barnstable Town = in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 114.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach more expensive than Barnstable Town?
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is 16.1% more expensive than Barnstable Town. The overall cost index is 114.2 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach equals $100K in Barnstable Town?
A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town has the same purchasing power as $116,069 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Barnstable Town and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach?
Rents in Barnstable Town are indexed at 90.0 while Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is at 155.6 (national average = 100). Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach 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.