Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff +0.3 RPP
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 0.3% more expensive than Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal.
0.3% more expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 0.3% more expensive than Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 98.0). A $100,000 salary in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal buys about the same as $100,341 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.0 (Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal ≈ $100,341 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Services drives the gap (+70.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair SC:MA 98.0→98.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE SC × 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.
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal
98.0
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC and Barnstable Town, MA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Barnstable Town is 70.4 points higher. But rents 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal to $100,341 in Barnstable Town, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff +0.7 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff +70.4 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff -11.2 RPP
| Category | Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.0 | 98.4 | +0.3 |
| Goods | 96.3 | 97.0 | +0.7 |
| Services | 88.1 | 158.4 | +70.4 |
| Rents | 101.2 | 90.0 | -11.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 98.0
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 96.3
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 88.1
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 101.2
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,170 | +$170 |
| $75,000 | $75,256 | +$256 |
| $100,000 | $100,341 | +$341 |
| $150,000 | $150,511 | +$511 |
$ in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.0 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barnstable Town more expensive than Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal?
Barnstable Town is 0.3% more expensive than Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 98.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal?
A $100,000 salary in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal has the same purchasing power as $100,341 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal and Barnstable Town?
Rents in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal are indexed at 101.2 while Barnstable Town is at 90.0 (national average = 100). Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal 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.