Overall
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 109.4
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff -11.1 RPP
Kahului-Wailuku vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 10.2% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku.
10.2% less expensive
Merced, CA is 10.2% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku, HI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 109.4). A $100,000 salary in Kahului-Wailuku buys about the same as $89,837 in Merced; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 109.4 (Kahului-Wailuku) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Kahului-Wailuku ≈ $89,837 purchasing power in Merced
- Rents drives the gap (-40.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair HI:CA 109.4→98.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE HI × CA
- RENT-LED Rent-led gap
- 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Kahului-Wailuku would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Kahului-Wailuku | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,918 | $-5,082 |
| $75,000 | $67,377 | $-7,623 |
| $100,000 | $89,837 | $-10,163 |
| $150,000 | $134,755 | $-15,245 |
$ in Kahului-Wailuku = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (109.4 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Kahului-Wailuku, HI and Merced, CA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.1 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Kahului-Wailuku is above 100 while Merced is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
Rents leads the difference, with Merced 40.5 points lower than Kahului-Wailuku. 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 housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Kahului-Wailuku corresponds to $89,837 in Merced.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 111.6
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff -6.4 RPP
Services
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 190.6
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff -32.2 RPP
Rents
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 119.2
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff -40.5 RPP
| Category | Kahului-Wailuku | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 109.4 | 98.3 | -11.1 |
| Goods | 111.6 | 105.2 | -6.4 |
| Services | 190.6 | 158.3 | -32.2 |
| Rents | 119.2 | 78.6 | -40.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kahului-Wailuku 109.4
Merced 98.3
Goods
Kahului-Wailuku 111.6
Merced 105.2
Services
Kahului-Wailuku 190.6
Merced 158.3
Rents
Kahului-Wailuku 119.2
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Kahului-Wailuku and Merced share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 13.2 to 11.1 RPP points. Kahului-Wailuku remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 12.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (53.1 to 40.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Kahului-Wailuku RPP | Merced RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 107.5 | 94.3 | 13.2 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2012 | 102.7 | 98.6 | 4.1 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2016 | 102.9 | 95.3 | 7.5 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2020 | 111.5 | 98.7 | 12.8 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2024 | 109.4 | 98.3 | 11.1 points Kahului-Wailuku 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 Merced more expensive than Kahului-Wailuku?
Merced is 10.2% less expensive than Kahului-Wailuku. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 109.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Kahului-Wailuku?
A $100,000 salary in Kahului-Wailuku has the same purchasing power as $89,837 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kahului-Wailuku and Merced?
Rents in Kahului-Wailuku are indexed at 119.2 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Kahului-Wailuku 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.