Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
- Stockton-Lodi
- 105.1
Diff +6.7 RPP
Barnstable Town vs Stockton-Lodi
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Stockton-Lodi is 6.9% more expensive than Barnstable Town.
6.9% more expensive
Stockton-Lodi, CA is 6.9% more expensive than Barnstable Town, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 105.1 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town buys about the same as $106,851 in Stockton-Lodi; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Barnstable Town) vs 105.1 (Stockton-Lodi)
- $100k in Barnstable Town ≈ $106,851 purchasing power in Stockton-Lodi
- Rents drives the gap (+25.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:CA 98.4→105.1
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MA × CA
- 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
- Stockton-Lodi
- 105.2
Diff +8.2 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
- Stockton-Lodi
- 158.2
Diff -0.2 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
- Stockton-Lodi
- 115.6
Diff +25.6 RPP
| Category | Barnstable Town | Stockton-Lodi | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 105.1 | +6.7 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 105.2 | +8.2 |
| Services | 158.4 | 158.2 | -0.2 |
| Rents | 90.0 | 115.6 | +25.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Barnstable Town 98.4
Stockton-Lodi 105.1
Goods
Barnstable Town 97.0
Stockton-Lodi 105.2
Services
Barnstable Town 158.4
Stockton-Lodi 158.2
Rents
Barnstable Town 90.0
Stockton-Lodi 115.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Stockton-Lodi is 25.6 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Stockton-Lodi, CA is 6.9% more expensive than Barnstable Town, MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.7-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Stockton-Lodi 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 $106,851 in Stockton-Lodi.
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Stockton-Lodi
105.1
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Barnstable Town would need to be in Stockton-Lodi for the same purchasing power:
| In Barnstable Town | In Stockton-Lodi | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,425 | +$3,425 |
| $75,000 | $80,138 | +$5,138 |
| $100,000 | $106,851 | +$6,851 |
| $150,000 | $160,276 | +$10,276 |
$ in Barnstable Town = in Stockton-Lodi
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 105.1), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Barnstable Town and Stockton-Lodi share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.6 to 6.7 RPP points. Stockton-Lodi remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 39.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (39.8 to 0.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Barnstable Town RPP | Stockton-Lodi RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 102.8 | 100.2 | 2.6 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2012 | 100.9 | 103.8 | 2.9 points Stockton-Lodi higher |
| 2016 | 105.8 | 99.9 | 5.9 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 101.3 | 105.3 | 4.0 points Stockton-Lodi higher |
| 2024 | 98.4 | 105.1 | 6.7 points Stockton-Lodi 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 Stockton-Lodi more expensive than Barnstable Town?
Stockton-Lodi is 6.9% more expensive than Barnstable Town. The overall cost index is 105.1 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Stockton-Lodi equals $100K in Barnstable Town?
A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town has the same purchasing power as $106,851 in Stockton-Lodi. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Barnstable Town and Stockton-Lodi?
Rents in Barnstable Town are indexed at 90.0 while Stockton-Lodi is at 115.6 (national average = 100). Stockton-Lodi 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.