Overall
- Kalamazoo-Portage
- 94.8
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff +3.5 RPP
Kalamazoo-Portage vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 3.7% more expensive than Kalamazoo-Portage.
3.7% more expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 3.7% more expensive than Kalamazoo-Portage, MI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 94.8). A $100,000 salary in Kalamazoo-Portage buys about the same as $103,702 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 94.8 (Kalamazoo-Portage) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in Kalamazoo-Portage ≈ $103,702 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Services drives the gap (+59.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair MI:MA 94.8→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE MI × MA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
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.
Barnstable Town, MA is 3.7% more expensive than Kalamazoo-Portage, MI, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.5-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Barnstable Town 59.2 points higher than Kalamazoo-Portage. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Kalamazoo-Portage to $103,702 in Barnstable Town, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Kalamazoo-Portage and Barnstable Town share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.3 to 3.5 RPP points. Barnstable Town remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 13.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (46.0 to 59.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Kalamazoo-Portage RPP | Barnstable Town RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.5 | 102.8 | 5.3 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2012 | 95.4 | 100.9 | 5.6 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2016 | 96.4 | 105.8 | 9.4 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 95.3 | 101.3 | 6.0 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2024 | 94.8 | 98.4 | 3.5 points Barnstable Town 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Kalamazoo-Portage
- 93.7
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff +3.3 RPP
Services
- Kalamazoo-Portage
- 99.3
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff +59.2 RPP
Rents
- Kalamazoo-Portage
- 81.6
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff +8.4 RPP
| Category | Kalamazoo-Portage | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 94.8 | 98.4 | +3.5 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 97.0 | +3.3 |
| Services | 99.3 | 158.4 | +59.2 |
| Rents | 81.6 | 90.0 | +8.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kalamazoo-Portage 94.8
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
Kalamazoo-Portage 93.7
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
Kalamazoo-Portage 99.3
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
Kalamazoo-Portage 81.6
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Kalamazoo-Portage would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In Kalamazoo-Portage | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,851 | +$1,851 |
| $75,000 | $77,777 | +$2,777 |
| $100,000 | $103,702 | +$3,702 |
| $150,000 | $155,553 | +$5,553 |
$ in Kalamazoo-Portage = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (94.8 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Kalamazoo-Portage
94.8
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barnstable Town more expensive than Kalamazoo-Portage?
Barnstable Town is 3.7% more expensive than Kalamazoo-Portage. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 94.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in Kalamazoo-Portage?
A $100,000 salary in Kalamazoo-Portage has the same purchasing power as $103,702 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kalamazoo-Portage and Barnstable Town?
Rents in Kalamazoo-Portage are indexed at 81.6 while Barnstable Town is at 90.0 (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.