Overall
Diff -3.8 RPP
Albany vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 3.7% less expensive than Albany.
3.7% less expensive
Merced, CA is 3.7% less expensive than Albany, OR on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 102.1). A $100,000 salary in Albany buys about the same as $96,254 in Merced; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 102.1 (Albany) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Albany ≈ $96,254 purchasing power in Merced
- Services drives the gap (+53.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair OR:CA 102.1→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE OR × CA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
Diff +53.5 RPP
Rents
Diff -22.4 RPP
| Category | Albany | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.1 | 98.3 | -3.8 |
| Goods | 105.3 | 105.2 | -0.1 |
| Services | 104.8 | 158.3 | +53.5 |
| Rents | 101.1 | 78.6 | -22.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Albany 102.1
Merced 98.3
Goods
Albany 105.3
Merced 105.2
Services
Albany 104.8
Merced 158.3
Rents
Albany 101.1
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Merced is 53.5 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Merced, CA is 3.7% less expensive than Albany, OR, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.8-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Albany is above 100 while Merced is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Albany to $96,254 in Merced, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Albany
102.1
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Albany would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Albany | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,127 | $-1,873 |
| $75,000 | $72,190 | $-2,810 |
| $100,000 | $96,254 | $-3,746 |
| $150,000 | $144,381 | $-5,619 |
$ in Albany = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.1 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Merced more expensive than Albany?
Merced is 3.7% less expensive than Albany. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 102.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Albany?
A $100,000 salary in Albany has the same purchasing power as $96,254 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Albany and Merced?
Rents in Albany are indexed at 101.1 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Albany 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.