Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff -6.6 RPP
Merced vs Des Moines-West Des Moines
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Des Moines-West Des Moines is 6.7% less expensive than Merced.
6.7% less expensive
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 6.7% less expensive than Merced, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 91.7 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Merced buys about the same as $93,311 in Des Moines-West Des Moines; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Merced) vs 91.7 (Des Moines-West Des Moines)
- $100k in Merced ≈ $93,311 purchasing power in Des Moines-West Des Moines
- Services drives the gap (-73.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:IA 98.3→91.7
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CA × IA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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 -11.4 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff -73.8 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff +6.1 RPP
| Category | Merced | Des Moines-West Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 91.7 | -6.6 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 93.7 | -11.4 |
| Services | 158.3 | 84.6 | -73.8 |
| Rents | 78.6 | 84.7 | +6.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Merced 98.3
Des Moines-West Des Moines 91.7
Goods
Merced 105.2
Des Moines-West Des Moines 93.7
Services
Merced 158.3
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.6
Rents
Merced 78.6
Des Moines-West Des Moines 84.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Des Moines-West Des Moines is 73.8 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA is 6.7% less expensive than Merced, CA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.6-point overall gap.
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.
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 Merced to $93,311 in Des Moines-West Des Moines, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Des Moines-West Des Moines
91.7
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Merced would need to be in Des Moines-West Des Moines for the same purchasing power:
| In Merced | In Des Moines-West Des Moines | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $46,655 | $-3,345 |
| $75,000 | $69,983 | $-5,017 |
| $100,000 | $93,311 | $-6,689 |
| $150,000 | $139,966 | $-10,034 |
$ in Merced = in Des Moines-West Des Moines
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 91.7), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Merced and Des Moines-West Des Moines share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 0.9 to 6.6 RPP points. Merced remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 62.3 points between the first and latest shared releases (11.4 to 73.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Merced RPP | Des Moines-West Des Moines RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.3 | 95.1 | 0.9 points Des Moines-West Des Moines higher |
| 2012 | 98.6 | 95.5 | 3.1 points Merced higher |
| 2016 | 95.3 | 94.6 | 0.7 points Merced higher |
| 2020 | 98.7 | 93.8 | 4.9 points Merced higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 91.7 | 6.6 points Merced 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 Des Moines-West Des Moines more expensive than Merced?
Des Moines-West Des Moines is 6.7% less expensive than Merced. The overall cost index is 91.7 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Des Moines-West Des Moines equals $100K in Merced?
A $100,000 salary in Merced has the same purchasing power as $93,311 in Des Moines-West Des Moines. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Merced and Des Moines-West Des Moines?
Rents in Merced are indexed at 78.6 while Des Moines-West Des Moines is at 84.7 (national average = 100). Des Moines-West Des Moines 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.