Overall
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 109.4
Diff +0.6 RPP
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara vs Kahului-Wailuku
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kahului-Wailuku is 0.5% more expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara.
0.5% more expensive
Kahului-Wailuku, HI is 0.5% more expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 109.4 vs 108.8). A $100,000 salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara buys about the same as $100,547 in Kahului-Wailuku; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 108.8 (Santa Maria-Santa Barbara) vs 109.4 (Kahului-Wailuku)
- $100k in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara ≈ $100,547 purchasing power in Kahului-Wailuku
- Services drives the gap (+40.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:HI 108.8→109.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CA × HI
- 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.
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara
108.8
Cost Index
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA and Kahului-Wailuku, HI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Kahului-Wailuku is 40.8 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 Santa Maria-Santa Barbara to $100,547 in Kahului-Wailuku, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 111.6
Diff +6.4 RPP
Services
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 190.6
Diff +40.8 RPP
Rents
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 119.2
Diff -32.2 RPP
| Category | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 108.8 | 109.4 | +0.6 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 111.6 | +6.4 |
| Services | 149.8 | 190.6 | +40.8 |
| Rents | 151.4 | 119.2 | -32.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 108.8
Kahului-Wailuku 109.4
Goods
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 105.2
Kahului-Wailuku 111.6
Services
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 149.8
Kahului-Wailuku 190.6
Rents
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 151.4
Kahului-Wailuku 119.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara and Kahului-Wailuku share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.0 to 0.6 RPP points. Kahului-Wailuku remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 20.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (53.0 to 32.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara RPP | Kahului-Wailuku RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 107.5 | 107.5 | Even |
| 2012 | 110.0 | 102.7 | 7.4 points Santa Maria-Santa Barbara higher |
| 2016 | 106.6 | 102.9 | 3.7 points Santa Maria-Santa Barbara higher |
| 2020 | 112.0 | 111.5 | 0.4 points Santa Maria-Santa Barbara higher |
| 2024 | 108.8 | 109.4 | 0.6 points Kahului-Wailuku 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara would need to be in Kahului-Wailuku for the same purchasing power:
| In Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | In Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,273 | +$273 |
| $75,000 | $75,410 | +$410 |
| $100,000 | $100,547 | +$547 |
| $150,000 | $150,820 | +$820 |
$ in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara = in Kahului-Wailuku
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (108.8 → 109.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kahului-Wailuku more expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara?
Kahului-Wailuku is 0.5% more expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara. The overall cost index is 109.4 vs 108.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Kahului-Wailuku equals $100K in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara?
A $100,000 salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara has the same purchasing power as $100,547 in Kahului-Wailuku. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Santa Maria-Santa Barbara and Kahului-Wailuku?
Rents in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara are indexed at 151.4 while Kahului-Wailuku is at 119.2 (national average = 100). Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 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.