Overall
- Chico
- 101.2
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff -2.8 RPP
Chico vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 2.8% less expensive than Chico.
2.8% less expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 2.8% less expensive than Chico, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 101.2). A $100,000 salary in Chico buys about the same as $97,188 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 101.2 (Chico) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in Chico ≈ $97,188 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Goods drives the gap (-8.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:MA 101.2→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · GOODS-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CA × MA
- GOODS-LED Goods-led gap
- 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.
How the Price Gap Changed
Chico and Barnstable Town share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.4 to 2.8 RPP points. Chico remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 37.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (37.4 to 0.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Chico RPP | Barnstable Town RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.4 | 102.8 | 3.4 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2012 | 103.5 | 100.9 | 2.5 points Chico higher |
| 2016 | 97.1 | 105.8 | 8.7 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 101.8 | 101.3 | 0.5 points Chico higher |
| 2024 | 101.2 | 98.4 | 2.8 points Chico 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Barnstable Town, MA is 2.8% less expensive than Chico, CA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Chico is above 100 while Barnstable Town is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Goods leads the difference, with Barnstable Town 8.2 points lower than Chico. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $97,188 in Barnstable Town as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Chico, then replace the national basket with your own.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Chico would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In Chico | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,594 | $-1,406 |
| $75,000 | $72,891 | $-2,109 |
| $100,000 | $97,188 | $-2,812 |
| $150,000 | $145,781 | $-4,219 |
$ in Chico = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.2 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Chico
- 105.2
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff -8.2 RPP
Services
- Chico
- 158.8
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff -0.4 RPP
Rents
- Chico
- 91.9
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff -1.9 RPP
| Category | Chico | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.2 | 98.4 | -2.8 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 97.0 | -8.2 |
| Services | 158.8 | 158.4 | -0.4 |
| Rents | 91.9 | 90.0 | -1.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Chico 101.2
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
Chico 105.2
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
Chico 158.8
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
Chico 91.9
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Chico
101.2
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barnstable Town more expensive than Chico?
Barnstable Town is 2.8% less expensive than Chico. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 101.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in Chico?
A $100,000 salary in Chico has the same purchasing power as $97,188 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Chico and Barnstable Town?
Rents in Chico are indexed at 91.9 while Barnstable Town is at 90.0 (national average = 100). Chico 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.