Overall
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- 111.1
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff -12.8 RPP
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 11.5% less expensive than Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue.
11.5% less expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 11.5% less expensive than Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 111.1). A $100,000 salary in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue buys about the same as $88,498 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 111.1 (Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue ≈ $88,498 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Services drives the gap (+65.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:MA 111.1→98.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE WA × 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
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- 104.0
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff -7.0 RPP
Services
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff +65.6 RPP
Rents
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- 151.3
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff -61.3 RPP
| Category | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 111.1 | 98.4 | -12.8 |
| Goods | 104.0 | 97.0 | -7.0 |
| Services | 92.8 | 158.4 | +65.6 |
| Rents | 151.3 | 90.0 | -61.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 111.1
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 104.0
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 92.8
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 151.3
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Barnstable Town is 65.6 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA and Barnstable Town, MA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.8 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue to $88,498 in Barnstable Town, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
111.1
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,249 | $-5,751 |
| $75,000 | $66,374 | $-8,626 |
| $100,000 | $88,498 | $-11,502 |
| $150,000 | $132,748 | $-17,252 |
$ in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (111.1 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue and Barnstable Town share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 6.3 to 12.8 RPP points. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (32.4 to 61.3 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue RPP | Barnstable Town RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 109.1 | 102.8 | 6.3 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
| 2012 | 105.3 | 100.9 | 4.4 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
| 2016 | 110.2 | 105.8 | 4.4 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
| 2020 | 113.0 | 101.3 | 11.8 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
| 2024 | 111.1 | 98.4 | 12.8 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue?
Barnstable Town is 11.5% less expensive than Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 111.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue?
A $100,000 salary in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue has the same purchasing power as $88,498 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue and Barnstable Town?
Rents in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue are indexed at 151.3 while Barnstable Town is at 90.0 (national average = 100). Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 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.