Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 109.4
Diff +11.1 RPP
Merced vs Kahului-Wailuku
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Kahului-Wailuku is 11.3% more expensive than Merced.
11.3% more expensive
Kahului-Wailuku, HI is 11.3% more expensive than Merced, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 109.4 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Merced buys about the same as $111,313 in Kahului-Wailuku; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Merced) vs 109.4 (Kahului-Wailuku)
- $100k in Merced ≈ $111,313 purchasing power in Kahului-Wailuku
- Rents drives the gap (+40.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:HI 98.3→109.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · RENT-LED · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × HI
- 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 Merced would need to be in Kahului-Wailuku for the same purchasing power:
| In Merced | In Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $55,657 | +$5,657 |
| $75,000 | $83,485 | +$8,485 |
| $100,000 | $111,313 | +$11,313 |
| $150,000 | $166,970 | +$16,970 |
$ in Merced = in Kahului-Wailuku
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 109.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Merced, CA and Kahului-Wailuku, HI 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 Kahului-Wailuku 40.5 points higher than Merced. 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 Merced corresponds to $111,313 in Kahului-Wailuku.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Merced
- 105.2
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 111.6
Diff +6.4 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 190.6
Diff +32.2 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
- Kahului-Wailuku
- 119.2
Diff +40.5 RPP
| Category | Merced | Kahului-Wailuku | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 109.4 | +11.1 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 111.6 | +6.4 |
| Services | 158.3 | 190.6 | +32.2 |
| Rents | 78.6 | 119.2 | +40.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Merced 98.3
Kahului-Wailuku 109.4
Goods
Merced 105.2
Kahului-Wailuku 111.6
Services
Merced 158.3
Kahului-Wailuku 190.6
Rents
Merced 78.6
Kahului-Wailuku 119.2
Vertical line = national average (100)
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Kahului-Wailuku
109.4
Cost Index
How the Price Gap Changed
Merced and Kahului-Wailuku 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 | Merced RPP | Kahului-Wailuku RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.3 | 107.5 | 13.2 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2012 | 98.6 | 102.7 | 4.1 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2016 | 95.3 | 102.9 | 7.5 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2020 | 98.7 | 111.5 | 12.8 points Kahului-Wailuku higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 109.4 | 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 Kahului-Wailuku more expensive than Merced?
Kahului-Wailuku is 11.3% more expensive than Merced. The overall cost index is 109.4 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Kahului-Wailuku equals $100K in Merced?
A $100,000 salary in Merced has the same purchasing power as $111,313 in Kahului-Wailuku. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Merced and Kahului-Wailuku?
Rents in Merced are indexed at 78.6 while Kahului-Wailuku is at 119.2 (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.