Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff -11.1 RPP
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 10.2% less expensive than Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh.
10.2% less expensive
Merced, CA is 10.2% less expensive than Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 109.4). A $100,000 salary in Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh buys about the same as $89,813 in Merced; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 109.4 (Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh ≈ $89,813 purchasing power in Merced
- Rents drives the gap (-37.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:CA 109.4→98.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE NY × 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
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff -5.1 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff +21.6 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff -37.1 RPP
| Category | Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 109.4 | 98.3 | -11.1 |
| Goods | 110.3 | 105.2 | -5.1 |
| Services | 136.8 | 158.3 | +21.6 |
| Rents | 115.8 | 78.6 | -37.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh 109.4
Merced 98.3
Goods
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh 110.3
Merced 105.2
Services
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh 136.8
Merced 158.3
Rents
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh 115.8
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Merced is 37.1 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY 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: Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh 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 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 Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh corresponds to $89,813 in Merced.
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh
109.4
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,906 | $-5,094 |
| $75,000 | $67,360 | $-7,640 |
| $100,000 | $89,813 | $-10,187 |
| $150,000 | $134,719 | $-15,281 |
$ in Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh = 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.
How the Price Gap Changed
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh and Merced share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 94.3 to 11.1 RPP points. Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 119.4 points between the first and latest shared releases (82.3 to 37.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh RPP | Merced RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 0.0 | 94.3 | 94.3 points Merced higher |
| 2012 | 0.0 | 98.6 | 98.6 points Merced higher |
| 2016 | 109.8 | 95.3 | 14.4 points Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh higher |
| 2020 | 109.7 | 98.7 | 10.9 points Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh higher |
| 2024 | 109.4 | 98.3 | 11.1 points Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh 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 Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh?
Merced is 10.2% less expensive than Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 109.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh?
A $100,000 salary in Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh has the same purchasing power as $89,813 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh and Merced?
Rents in Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh are indexed at 115.8 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh 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.