Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff +1.3 RPP
Merced vs Albany-Schenectady-Troy
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Albany-Schenectady-Troy is 1.3% more expensive than Merced.
1.3% more expensive
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY is 1.3% more expensive than Merced, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 99.6 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Merced buys about the same as $101,314 in Albany-Schenectady-Troy; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Merced) vs 99.6 (Albany-Schenectady-Troy)
- $100k in Merced ≈ $101,314 purchasing power in Albany-Schenectady-Troy
- Services drives the gap (-24.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:NY 98.3→99.6
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CA × NY
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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.
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Albany-Schenectady-Troy
99.6
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Merced, CA and Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Albany-Schenectady-Troy is 24.3 points lower. 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.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
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 Merced to $101,314 in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff -5.5 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
- Albany-Schenectady-Troy
- 134.0
Diff -24.3 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
- Albany-Schenectady-Troy
- 102.6
Diff +24.0 RPP
| Category | Merced | Albany-Schenectady-Troy | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 99.6 | +1.3 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 99.7 | -5.5 |
| Services | 158.3 | 134.0 | -24.3 |
| Rents | 78.6 | 102.6 | +24.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Merced 98.3
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 99.6
Goods
Merced 105.2
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 99.7
Services
Merced 158.3
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 134.0
Rents
Merced 78.6
Albany-Schenectady-Troy 102.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Merced would need to be in Albany-Schenectady-Troy for the same purchasing power:
| In Merced | In Albany-Schenectady-Troy | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,657 | +$657 |
| $75,000 | $75,985 | +$985 |
| $100,000 | $101,314 | +$1,314 |
| $150,000 | $151,970 | +$1,970 |
$ in Merced = in Albany-Schenectady-Troy
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 99.6), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Albany-Schenectady-Troy more expensive than Merced?
Albany-Schenectady-Troy is 1.3% more expensive than Merced. The overall cost index is 99.6 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Albany-Schenectady-Troy equals $100K in Merced?
A $100,000 salary in Merced has the same purchasing power as $101,314 in Albany-Schenectady-Troy. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Merced and Albany-Schenectady-Troy?
Rents in Merced are indexed at 78.6 while Albany-Schenectady-Troy is at 102.6 (national average = 100). Albany-Schenectady-Troy 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.