Overall
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
- 103.3
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff -5.0 RPP
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 4.8% less expensive than Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler.
4.8% less expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 4.8% less expensive than Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 103.3). A $100,000 salary in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler buys about the same as $95,194 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 103.3 (Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler ≈ $95,194 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Services drives the gap (+65.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AZ:MA 103.3→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE AZ × MA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff +2.0 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff +65.1 RPP
Rents
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
- 121.2
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff -31.2 RPP
| Category | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 103.3 | 98.4 | -5.0 |
| Goods | 95.0 | 97.0 | +2.0 |
| Services | 93.3 | 158.4 | +65.1 |
| Rents | 121.2 | 90.0 | -31.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 103.3
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 95.0
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 93.3
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 121.2
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Barnstable Town is 65.1 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Barnstable Town, MA is 4.8% less expensive than Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.0-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler is above 100 while Barnstable Town is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler to $95,194 in Barnstable Town, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler
103.3
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,597 | $-2,403 |
| $75,000 | $71,396 | $-3,604 |
| $100,000 | $95,194 | $-4,806 |
| $150,000 | $142,792 | $-7,208 |
$ in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (103.3 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler and Barnstable Town share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.9 to 5.0 RPP points. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 26.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (39.1 to 65.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler RPP | Barnstable Town RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 105.7 | 102.8 | 2.9 points Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler higher |
| 2012 | 98.7 | 100.9 | 2.2 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2016 | 100.4 | 105.8 | 5.4 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 102.8 | 101.3 | 1.5 points Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler higher |
| 2024 | 103.3 | 98.4 | 5.0 points Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barnstable Town more expensive than Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler?
Barnstable Town is 4.8% less expensive than Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 103.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler?
A $100,000 salary in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler has the same purchasing power as $95,194 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler and Barnstable Town?
Rents in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler are indexed at 121.2 while Barnstable Town is at 90.0 (national average = 100). Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler 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.