Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff -13.5 RPP
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 12.1% less expensive than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad.
12.1% less expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 12.1% less expensive than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 111.9). A $100,000 salary in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad buys about the same as $87,902 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 111.9 (San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad ≈ $87,902 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Rents drives the gap (-89.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:MA 111.9→98.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × MA
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $43,951 | $-6,049 |
| $75,000 | $65,927 | $-9,073 |
| $100,000 | $87,902 | $-12,098 |
| $150,000 | $131,853 | $-18,147 |
$ in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (111.9 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA and Barnstable Town, MA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 13.5 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad is above 100 while Barnstable Town is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Barnstable Town 89.3 points lower than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad. 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 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 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad corresponds to $87,902 in Barnstable Town.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff -10.9 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff -15.8 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff -89.3 RPP
| Category | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 111.9 | 98.4 | -13.5 |
| Goods | 108.0 | 97.0 | -10.9 |
| Services | 174.2 | 158.4 | -15.8 |
| Rents | 179.3 | 90.0 | -89.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 111.9
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 108.0
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 174.2
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 179.3
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad
111.9
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barnstable Town more expensive than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad?
Barnstable Town is 12.1% less expensive than San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 111.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad?
A $100,000 salary in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad has the same purchasing power as $87,902 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad and Barnstable Town?
Rents in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad are indexed at 179.3 while Barnstable Town is at 90.0 (national average = 100). San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad 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.