Overall
- York-Hanover
- 96.0
- Barnstable Town
- 98.4
Diff +2.4 RPP
York-Hanover vs Barnstable Town
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Barnstable Town is 2.4% more expensive than York-Hanover.
2.4% more expensive
Barnstable Town, MA is 2.4% more expensive than York-Hanover, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.4 vs 96.0). A $100,000 salary in York-Hanover buys about the same as $102,449 in Barnstable Town; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 96.0 (York-Hanover) vs 98.4 (Barnstable Town)
- $100k in York-Hanover ≈ $102,449 purchasing power in Barnstable Town
- Services drives the gap (+51.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:MA 96.0→98.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE PA × MA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- York-Hanover
- 100.7
- Barnstable Town
- 97.0
Diff -3.7 RPP
Services
- York-Hanover
- 107.0
- Barnstable Town
- 158.4
Diff +51.4 RPP
Rents
- York-Hanover
- 79.8
- Barnstable Town
- 90.0
Diff +10.3 RPP
| Category | York-Hanover | Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 96.0 | 98.4 | +2.4 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 97.0 | -3.7 |
| Services | 107.0 | 158.4 | +51.4 |
| Rents | 79.8 | 90.0 | +10.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
York-Hanover 96.0
Barnstable Town 98.4
Goods
York-Hanover 100.7
Barnstable Town 97.0
Services
York-Hanover 107.0
Barnstable Town 158.4
Rents
York-Hanover 79.8
Barnstable Town 90.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Barnstable Town is 51.4 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 2.4% more expensive than York-Hanover, PA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.4-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 York-Hanover to $102,449 in Barnstable Town, but it is not a personal spending weight.
York-Hanover
96.0
Cost Index
Barnstable Town
98.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in York-Hanover would need to be in Barnstable Town for the same purchasing power:
| In York-Hanover | In Barnstable Town | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,224 | +$1,224 |
| $75,000 | $76,837 | +$1,837 |
| $100,000 | $102,449 | +$2,449 |
| $150,000 | $153,673 | +$3,673 |
$ in York-Hanover = in Barnstable Town
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (96.0 → 98.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
York-Hanover and Barnstable Town share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 3.7 to 2.4 RPP points. Barnstable Town remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 23.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (27.7 to 51.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | York-Hanover RPP | Barnstable Town RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 99.1 | 102.8 | 3.7 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2012 | 96.5 | 100.9 | 4.4 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2016 | 98.0 | 105.8 | 7.8 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2020 | 97.7 | 101.3 | 3.6 points Barnstable Town higher |
| 2024 | 96.0 | 98.4 | 2.4 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 York-Hanover?
Barnstable Town is 2.4% more expensive than York-Hanover. The overall cost index is 98.4 vs 96.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Barnstable Town equals $100K in York-Hanover?
A $100,000 salary in York-Hanover has the same purchasing power as $102,449 in Barnstable Town. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between York-Hanover and Barnstable Town?
Rents in York-Hanover are indexed at 79.8 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.