Overall
- Wausau
- 92.7
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff +5.7 RPP
Wausau vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 6.2% more expensive than Wausau.
6.2% more expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 6.2% more expensive than Wausau, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 92.7). A $100,000 salary in Wausau buys about the same as $106,152 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.7 (Wausau) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in Wausau ≈ $106,152 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Services drives the gap (+68.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:MA 92.7→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WI × MA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Barnstable Town, MA is 6.2% more expensive than Wausau, WI, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.7-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Barnstable Town 68.5 points higher than Wausau. 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Wausau to $106,152 in Barnstable Town, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Wausau and Barnstable Town share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 8.0 to 5.7 RPP points. Barnstable Town remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 29.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (38.7 to 68.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Wausau RPP | Barnstable Town RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.8 | 102.8 | 8.0 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2012 | 94.1 | 100.9 | 6.9 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2016 | 92.0 | 105.8 | 13.8 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 90.2 | 101.3 | 11.1 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2024 | 92.7 | 98.4 | 5.7 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Wausau
- 93.8
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff +3.2 RPP
Services
- Wausau
- 90.0
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff +68.5 RPP
Rents
- Wausau
- 71.5
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff +18.5 RPP
| Category | Wausau | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.7 | 98.4 | +5.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 97.0 | +3.2 |
| Services | 90.0 | 158.4 | +68.5 |
| Rents | 71.5 | 90.0 | +18.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wausau 92.7
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
Wausau 93.8
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
Wausau 90.0
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
Wausau 71.5
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wausau would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In Wausau | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,076 | +$3,076 |
| $75,000 | $79,614 | +$4,614 |
| $100,000 | $106,152 | +$6,152 |
| $150,000 | $159,228 | +$9,228 |
$ in Wausau = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.7 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Wausau
92.7
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barnstable Town more expensive than Wausau?
Barnstable Town is 6.2% more expensive than Wausau. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 92.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in Wausau?
A $100,000 salary in Wausau has the same purchasing power as $106,152 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wausau and Barnstable Town?
Rents in Wausau are indexed at 71.5 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.