Overall
- Kennewick-Richland
- 100.1
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff -1.8 RPP
Kennewick-Richland vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 1.8% less expensive than Kennewick-Richland.
1.8% less expensive
Merced, CA is 1.8% less expensive than Kennewick-Richland, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 100.1). A $100,000 salary in Kennewick-Richland buys about the same as $98,197 in Merced; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 100.1 (Kennewick-Richland) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Kennewick-Richland ≈ $98,197 purchasing power in Merced
- Services drives the gap (+64.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:CA 100.1→98.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WA × CA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Kennewick-Richland
100.1
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Kennewick-Richland, WA and Merced, CA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.8 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Merced is 64.8 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Kennewick-Richland is above 100 while Merced is below it. That makes the move a change of price regime, not merely a rank swap.
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 Kennewick-Richland to $98,197 in Merced, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Kennewick-Richland
- 105.0
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Kennewick-Richland
- 93.6
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff +64.8 RPP
Rents
- Kennewick-Richland
- 94.8
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff -16.2 RPP
| Category | Kennewick-Richland | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.1 | 98.3 | -1.8 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 105.2 | +0.1 |
| Services | 93.6 | 158.3 | +64.8 |
| Rents | 94.8 | 78.6 | -16.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kennewick-Richland 100.1
Merced 98.3
Goods
Kennewick-Richland 105.0
Merced 105.2
Services
Kennewick-Richland 93.6
Merced 158.3
Rents
Kennewick-Richland 94.8
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Kennewick-Richland and Merced share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.1 to 1.8 RPP points. Kennewick-Richland remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 34.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (30.2 to 64.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Kennewick-Richland RPP | Merced RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.2 | 94.3 | 0.1 points Merced higher |
| 2012 | 99.3 | 98.6 | 0.7 points Kennewick-Richland higher |
| 2016 | 97.4 | 95.3 | 2.1 points Kennewick-Richland higher |
| 2020 | 99.8 | 98.7 | 1.0 points Kennewick-Richland higher |
| 2024 | 100.1 | 98.3 | 1.8 points Kennewick-Richland 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.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Kennewick-Richland would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Kennewick-Richland | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,099 | $-901 |
| $75,000 | $73,648 | $-1,352 |
| $100,000 | $98,197 | $-1,803 |
| $150,000 | $147,296 | $-2,704 |
$ in Kennewick-Richland = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.1 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Merced more expensive than Kennewick-Richland?
Merced is 1.8% less expensive than Kennewick-Richland. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 100.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Kennewick-Richland?
A $100,000 salary in Kennewick-Richland has the same purchasing power as $98,197 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kennewick-Richland and Merced?
Rents in Kennewick-Richland are indexed at 94.8 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Kennewick-Richland 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.