Overall
- Amherst Town-Northampton
- 100.2
Diff +0.2 RPP
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville vs Amherst Town-Northampton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Amherst Town-Northampton is 0.2% more expensive than Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville.
0.2% more expensive
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA is 0.2% more expensive than Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.2 vs 100.0). A $100,000 salary in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville buys about the same as $100,238 in Amherst Town-Northampton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 100.0 (Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville) vs 100.2 (Amherst Town-Northampton)
- $100k in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville ≈ $100,238 purchasing power in Amherst Town-Northampton
- Services drives the gap (+67.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:MA 100.0→100.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE FL × MA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 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.
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville
100.0
Cost Index
Amherst Town-Northampton
100.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL and Amherst Town-Northampton, MA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.2 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Amherst Town-Northampton is 67.7 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 exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
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 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville to $100,238 in Amherst Town-Northampton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff +0.8 RPP
Services
- Amherst Town-Northampton
- 155.7
Diff +67.7 RPP
Rents
Diff -14.2 RPP
| Category | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville | Amherst Town-Northampton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.0 | 100.2 | +0.2 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 97.0 | +0.8 |
| Services | 88.1 | 155.7 | +67.7 |
| Rents | 111.7 | 97.5 | -14.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 100.0
Amherst Town-Northampton 100.2
Goods
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 96.2
Amherst Town-Northampton 97.0
Services
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 88.1
Amherst Town-Northampton 155.7
Rents
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 111.7
Amherst Town-Northampton 97.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville would need to be in Amherst Town-Northampton for the same purchasing power:
| In Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville | In Amherst Town-Northampton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,119 | +$119 |
| $75,000 | $75,178 | +$178 |
| $100,000 | $100,238 | +$238 |
| $150,000 | $150,357 | +$357 |
$ in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville = in Amherst Town-Northampton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.0 → 100.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Amherst Town-Northampton more expensive than Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville?
Amherst Town-Northampton is 0.2% more expensive than Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville. The overall cost index is 100.2 vs 100.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Amherst Town-Northampton equals $100K in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville?
A $100,000 salary in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville has the same purchasing power as $100,238 in Amherst Town-Northampton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville and Amherst Town-Northampton?
Rents in Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville are indexed at 111.7 while Amherst Town-Northampton is at 97.5 (national average = 100). Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville 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.