Overall
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 99.8
- Amherst Town-Northampton
- 100.2
Diff +0.5 RPP
Waterbury-Shelton vs Amherst Town-Northampton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Amherst Town-Northampton is 0.5% more expensive than Waterbury-Shelton.
0.5% more expensive
Amherst Town-Northampton, MA is 0.5% more expensive than Waterbury-Shelton, CT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 100.2 vs 99.8). A $100,000 salary in Waterbury-Shelton buys about the same as $100,466 in Amherst Town-Northampton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 99.8 (Waterbury-Shelton) vs 100.2 (Amherst Town-Northampton)
- $100k in Waterbury-Shelton ≈ $100,466 purchasing power in Amherst Town-Northampton
- Rents drives the gap (+8.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CT:MA 99.8→100.2
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CT × MA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Waterbury-Shelton
99.8
Cost Index
Amherst Town-Northampton
100.2
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Waterbury-Shelton, CT and Amherst Town-Northampton, MA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Amherst Town-Northampton is 8.4 points higher. But goods 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.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Amherst Town-Northampton is above 100 while Waterbury-Shelton is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Waterbury-Shelton corresponds to $100,466 in Amherst Town-Northampton.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 97.3
Diff -0.3 RPP
Services
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 147.6
- Amherst Town-Northampton
- 155.7
Diff +8.2 RPP
Rents
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 89.1
Diff +8.4 RPP
| Category | Waterbury-Shelton | Amherst Town-Northampton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 99.8 | 100.2 | +0.5 |
| Goods | 97.3 | 97.0 | -0.3 |
| Services | 147.6 | 155.7 | +8.2 |
| Rents | 89.1 | 97.5 | +8.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Waterbury-Shelton 99.8
Amherst Town-Northampton 100.2
Goods
Waterbury-Shelton 97.3
Amherst Town-Northampton 97.0
Services
Waterbury-Shelton 147.6
Amherst Town-Northampton 155.7
Rents
Waterbury-Shelton 89.1
Amherst Town-Northampton 97.5
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Waterbury-Shelton would need to be in Amherst Town-Northampton for the same purchasing power:
| In Waterbury-Shelton | In Amherst Town-Northampton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,233 | +$233 |
| $75,000 | $75,350 | +$350 |
| $100,000 | $100,466 | +$466 |
| $150,000 | $150,699 | +$699 |
$ in Waterbury-Shelton = in Amherst Town-Northampton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (99.8 → 100.2), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Amherst Town-Northampton more expensive than Waterbury-Shelton?
Amherst Town-Northampton is 0.5% more expensive than Waterbury-Shelton. The overall cost index is 100.2 vs 99.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Amherst Town-Northampton equals $100K in Waterbury-Shelton?
A $100,000 salary in Waterbury-Shelton has the same purchasing power as $100,466 in Amherst Town-Northampton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Waterbury-Shelton and Amherst Town-Northampton?
Rents in Waterbury-Shelton are indexed at 89.1 while Amherst Town-Northampton is at 97.5 (national average = 100). Amherst Town-Northampton 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.