Overall
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff +4.8 RPP
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 5.1% more expensive than Scranton--Wilkes-Barre.
5.1% more expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 5.1% more expensive than Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 93.6). A $100,000 salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre buys about the same as $105,125 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.6 (Scranton--Wilkes-Barre) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre ≈ $105,125 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Services drives the gap (+51.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:MA 93.6→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE PA × MA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 100.7
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff -3.7 RPP
Services
- Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
- 106.5
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff +51.9 RPP
Rents
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff +23.0 RPP
| Category | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.6 | 98.4 | +4.8 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 97.0 | -3.7 |
| Services | 106.5 | 158.4 | +51.9 |
| Rents | 67.0 | 90.0 | +23.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 93.6
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 100.7
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 106.5
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre 67.0
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Barnstable Town is 51.9 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Barnstable Town, MA is 5.1% more expensive than Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.8-point overall gap.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
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 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre to $105,125 in Barnstable Town, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre
93.6
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In Scranton--Wilkes-Barre | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,563 | +$2,563 |
| $75,000 | $78,844 | +$3,844 |
| $100,000 | $105,125 | +$5,125 |
| $150,000 | $157,688 | +$7,688 |
$ in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.6 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre and Barnstable Town share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 7.7 to 4.8 RPP points. Barnstable Town remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 25.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (26.3 to 51.9 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Scranton--Wilkes-Barre RPP | Barnstable Town RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.1 | 102.8 | 7.7 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2012 | 94.0 | 100.9 | 6.9 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2016 | 94.8 | 105.8 | 11.0 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 93.1 | 101.3 | 8.2 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2024 | 93.6 | 98.4 | 4.8 points Barnstable Town 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 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre?
Barnstable Town is 5.1% more expensive than Scranton--Wilkes-Barre. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 93.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre?
A $100,000 salary in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre has the same purchasing power as $105,125 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Scranton--Wilkes-Barre and Barnstable Town?
Rents in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre are indexed at 67.0 while Barnstable Town is at 90.0 (national average = 100). Barnstable Town 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.