Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
- Springfield
- 96.1
Diff -2.3 RPP
Barnstable Town vs Springfield
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Springfield is 2.3% less expensive than Barnstable Town.
2.3% less expensive
Springfield, MA is 2.3% less expensive than Barnstable Town, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 96.1 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town buys about the same as $97,672 in Springfield; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Barnstable Town) vs 96.1 (Springfield)
- $100k in Barnstable Town ≈ $97,672 purchasing power in Springfield
- Rents drives the gap (-14.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:MA 98.4→96.1
TIER-NEAR · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- SAME-STATE Same state · MA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
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
- Springfield
- 97.0
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
- Springfield
- 155.0
Diff -3.5 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
- Springfield
- 75.8
Diff -14.2 RPP
| Category | Barnstable Town | Springfield | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 96.1 | -2.3 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 97.0 | 0.0 |
| Services | 158.4 | 155.0 | -3.5 |
| Rents | 90.0 | 75.8 | -14.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Barnstable Town 98.4
Springfield 96.1
Goods
Barnstable Town 97.0
Springfield 97.0
Services
Barnstable Town 158.4
Springfield 155.0
Rents
Barnstable Town 90.0
Springfield 75.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Springfield is 14.2 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Springfield, MA is 2.3% less expensive than Barnstable Town, MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.3-point overall gap.
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.
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 $97,672 in Springfield.
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Springfield
96.1
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Barnstable Town would need to be in Springfield for the same purchasing power:
| In Barnstable Town | In Springfield | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,836 | $-1,164 |
| $75,000 | $73,254 | $-1,746 |
| $100,000 | $97,672 | $-2,328 |
| $150,000 | $146,507 | $-3,493 |
$ in Barnstable Town = in Springfield
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 96.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Barnstable Town and Springfield share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.3 to 2.3 RPP points. Barnstable Town remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (20.6 to 14.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Barnstable Town RPP | Springfield RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 102.8 | 99.5 | 3.3 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2012 | 100.9 | 97.8 | 3.2 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2016 | 105.8 | 99.4 | 6.4 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 101.3 | 99.1 | 2.2 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2024 | 98.4 | 96.1 | 2.3 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Springfield more expensive than Barnstable Town?
Springfield is 2.3% less expensive than Barnstable Town. The overall cost index is 96.1 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Springfield equals $100K in Barnstable Town?
A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town has the same purchasing power as $97,672 in Springfield. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Barnstable Town and Springfield?
Rents in Barnstable Town are indexed at 90.0 while Springfield is at 75.8 (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.