Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Barnstable Town's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Barnstable Town?
Your $100,000 in Barnstable Town has the same purchasing power as $97,914 in the average US city. You'd need $2,086 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Barnstable Town's cost index of 102, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Barnstable Town, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously paychecks come in above the us average and jobs are easy to find right now, plus 4 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Median household income in Barnstable Town is $94,387, a step above the national median of about $75k. The local job market leans toward industries that pay better than average, and that shows up in the take-home for most working households here.
Unemployment in Barnstable Town is running about 3.1% — below the typical US baseline of around 4%. That usually translates to a job market where employers compete for workers more than the other way around, which is the better side of that equation to be on if you're the one moving.
Barnstable Town reports roughly 1,267 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
Barnstable Town's air quality index averages about 34 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Barnstable Town is about 24 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
40% of adults 25 and over in Barnstable Town hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Barnstable Town's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Yes, several times a winter. Barnstable Town's winter average of about 26°F sits right around freezing, so storms typically drop real snow that lingers a few days before slush sets in.
Cold but workable. Winter in Barnstable Town averages about 26°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Pleasantly warm. Barnstable Town's summer averages around 80°F — comfortable for outdoor evenings, hot enough on peak days to warrant AC but mild compared to the Sun Belt.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 8. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 8 or colder should survive a typical winter in Barnstable Town. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Barnstable Town sits at about 82 feet (25 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Officially, Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, but most of the action lands between mid-August and mid-October. For Barnstable Town, that's when to keep half an eye on the National Hurricane Center forecast cone — and when an actual evacuation plan is worth having in the drawer if you're in a low-lying or coastal neighborhood.
By the numbers, yes. Barnstable Town reports roughly 1,267 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
Roughly average. Barnstable Town's cost-of-living index is 102, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Not really — Barnstable Town is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 7 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Transit Score is 17 out of 100. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $71,491 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Barnstable Town runs about $1,711/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.