Overall
- Providence-Warwick
- 101.8
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff -3.4 RPP
Providence-Warwick vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 3.4% less expensive than Providence-Warwick.
3.4% less expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 3.4% less expensive than Providence-Warwick, RI-MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 101.8). A $100,000 salary in Providence-Warwick buys about the same as $96,638 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 101.8 (Providence-Warwick) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in Providence-Warwick ≈ $96,638 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Rents drives the gap (-13.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair RI:MA 101.8→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE RI × 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
- Providence-Warwick
- 97.1
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Providence-Warwick
- 148.8
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff +9.6 RPP
Rents
- Providence-Warwick
- 103.9
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff -13.8 RPP
| Category | Providence-Warwick | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.8 | 98.4 | -3.4 |
| Goods | 97.1 | 97.0 | -0.1 |
| Services | 148.8 | 158.4 | +9.6 |
| Rents | 103.9 | 90.0 | -13.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Providence-Warwick 101.8
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
Providence-Warwick 97.1
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
Providence-Warwick 148.8
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
Providence-Warwick 103.9
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Barnstable Town is 13.8 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Barnstable Town, MA is 3.4% less expensive than Providence-Warwick, RI-MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.4-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Providence-Warwick 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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Providence-Warwick corresponds to $96,638 in Barnstable Town.
Providence-Warwick
101.8
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Providence-Warwick would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In Providence-Warwick | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,319 | $-1,681 |
| $75,000 | $72,478 | $-2,522 |
| $100,000 | $96,638 | $-3,362 |
| $150,000 | $144,956 | $-5,044 |
$ in Providence-Warwick = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.8 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Providence-Warwick and Barnstable Town share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.9 to 3.4 RPP points. Providence-Warwick remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 10.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (0.9 to 9.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Providence-Warwick RPP | Barnstable Town RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.7 | 102.8 | 0.9 points Providence-Warwick higher |
| 2012 | 100.3 | 100.9 | 0.6 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2016 | 101.9 | 105.8 | 3.9 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 101.7 | 101.3 | 0.4 points Providence-Warwick higher |
| 2024 | 101.8 | 98.4 | 3.4 points Providence-Warwick 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 Providence-Warwick?
Barnstable Town is 3.4% less expensive than Providence-Warwick. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 101.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in Providence-Warwick?
A $100,000 salary in Providence-Warwick has the same purchasing power as $96,638 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Providence-Warwick and Barnstable Town?
Rents in Providence-Warwick are indexed at 103.9 while Barnstable Town is at 90.0 (national average = 100). Providence-Warwick 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.