Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
- Visalia
- 99.8
Diff +1.5 RPP
Barnstable Town vs Visalia
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Visalia is 1.5% more expensive than Barnstable Town.
1.5% more expensive
Visalia, CA is 1.5% more expensive than Barnstable Town, MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 99.8 vs 98.4). A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town buys about the same as $101,499 in Visalia; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 98.4 (Barnstable Town) vs 99.8 (Visalia)
- $100k in Barnstable Town ≈ $101,499 purchasing power in Visalia
- Goods drives the gap (+8.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MA:CA 98.4→99.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE MA × CA
- 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.
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Visalia
99.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Barnstable Town, MA and Visalia, CA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Visalia is 8.2 points higher. But rents and services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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.
For a goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $101,499 in Visalia as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Barnstable Town, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
- Visalia
- 105.2
Diff +8.2 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
- Visalia
- 156.4
Diff -2.0 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
- Visalia
- 84.1
Diff -6.0 RPP
| Category | Barnstable Town | Visalia | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.4 | 99.8 | +1.5 |
| Goods | 97.0 | 105.2 | +8.2 |
| Services | 158.4 | 156.4 | -2.0 |
| Rents | 90.0 | 84.1 | -6.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Barnstable Town 98.4
Visalia 99.8
Goods
Barnstable Town 97.0
Visalia 105.2
Services
Barnstable Town 158.4
Visalia 156.4
Rents
Barnstable Town 90.0
Visalia 84.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Barnstable Town would need to be in Visalia for the same purchasing power:
| In Barnstable Town | In Visalia | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,749 | +$749 |
| $75,000 | $76,124 | +$1,124 |
| $100,000 | $101,499 | +$1,499 |
| $150,000 | $152,248 | +$2,248 |
$ in Barnstable Town = in Visalia
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.4 → 99.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Visalia more expensive than Barnstable Town?
Visalia is 1.5% more expensive than Barnstable Town. The overall cost index is 99.8 vs 98.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Visalia equals $100K in Barnstable Town?
A $100,000 salary in Barnstable Town has the same purchasing power as $101,499 in Visalia. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Barnstable Town and Visalia?
Rents in Barnstable Town are indexed at 90.0 while Visalia is at 84.1 (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.