Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
- Salem
- 103.6
Diff +5.3 RPP
Barnstable Town vs Salem
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Salem is 5.4% more expensive than Barnstable Town.
5.4% more expensive
Salem, OR is 5.4% more expensive than Barnstable Town, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 103.6 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town buys about the same as $105,387 in Salem; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Barnstable Town) vs 103.6 (Salem)
- $100k in Barnstable Town ≈ $105,387 purchasing power in Salem
- Services drives the gap (-53.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:OR 98.4→103.6
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MA × OR
- 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
- Salem
- 105.3
Diff +8.2 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
- Salem
- 104.7
Diff -53.8 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
- Salem
- 110.3
Diff +20.3 RPP
| Category | Barnstable Town | Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 103.6 | +5.3 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 105.3 | +8.2 |
| Services | 158.4 | 104.7 | -53.8 |
| Rents | 90.0 | 110.3 | +20.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Barnstable Town 98.4
Salem 103.6
Goods
Barnstable Town 97.0
Salem 105.3
Services
Barnstable Town 158.4
Salem 104.7
Rents
Barnstable Town 90.0
Salem 110.3
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Salem is 53.8 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Salem, OR is 5.4% more expensive than Barnstable Town, MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.3-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Salem 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 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 $105,387 in Salem, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Salem
103.6
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Barnstable Town would need to be in Salem for the same purchasing power:
| In Barnstable Town | In Salem | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,693 | +$2,693 |
| $75,000 | $79,040 | +$4,040 |
| $100,000 | $105,387 | +$5,387 |
| $150,000 | $158,080 | +$8,080 |
$ in Barnstable Town = in Salem
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 103.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Salem more expensive than Barnstable Town?
Salem is 5.4% more expensive than Barnstable Town. The overall cost index is 103.6 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Salem equals $100K in Barnstable Town?
A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town has the same purchasing power as $105,387 in Salem. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Barnstable Town and Salem?
Rents in Barnstable Town are indexed at 90.0 while Salem is at 110.3 (national average = 100). Salem 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.