Overall
- Fresno
- 102.2
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff -3.8 RPP
Fresno vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 3.7% less expensive than Fresno.
3.7% less expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 3.7% less expensive than Fresno, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 102.2). A $100,000 salary in Fresno buys about the same as $96,273 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 102.2 (Fresno) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in Fresno ≈ $96,273 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Goods drives the gap (-8.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:MA 102.2→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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Barnstable Town, MA is 3.7% less expensive than Fresno, CA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Fresno 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 Fresno. 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 $96,273 in Barnstable Town as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Fresno, then replace the national basket with your own.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fresno would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In Fresno | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,137 | $-1,863 |
| $75,000 | $72,205 | $-2,795 |
| $100,000 | $96,273 | $-3,727 |
| $150,000 | $144,410 | $-5,590 |
$ in Fresno = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.2 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fresno
- 105.2
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff -8.2 RPP
Services
- Fresno
- 161.0
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff -2.6 RPP
Rents
- Fresno
- 95.7
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff -5.7 RPP
| Category | Fresno | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.2 | 98.4 | -3.8 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 97.0 | -8.2 |
| Services | 161.0 | 158.4 | -2.6 |
| Rents | 95.7 | 90.0 | -5.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fresno 102.2
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
Fresno 105.2
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
Fresno 161.0
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
Fresno 95.7
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Fresno
102.2
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barnstable Town more expensive than Fresno?
Barnstable Town is 3.7% less expensive than Fresno. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 102.2 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in Fresno?
A $100,000 salary in Fresno has the same purchasing power as $96,273 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fresno and Barnstable Town?
Rents in Fresno are indexed at 95.7 while Barnstable Town is at 90.0 (national average = 100). Fresno 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.