Two comments here. 1) There is a feature that could make helmets significant;y better that is not addressed by the CPSC standard. Slippage to minimize head rotation as exemplified by MIPS but there are others. 2) The "best", most expensive helmets are designed to just meet CPSC (or CPSC and MIPS) so they can be as light, cool and comfortable as possible. I have no proof but I'm guessing that an $80 helmet has more protection than a $25 helmet but that a $150+ helmet is probably close the the $25 one.