Overall
Diff +3.2 RPP
Merced vs Medford
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Medford is 3.2% more expensive than Merced.
3.2% more expensive
Medford, OR is 3.2% more expensive than Merced, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 101.4 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Merced buys about the same as $103,213 in Medford; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Merced) vs 101.4 (Medford)
- $100k in Merced ≈ $103,213 purchasing power in Medford
- Services drives the gap (-56.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:OR 98.3→101.4
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CA × OR
- 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
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
Diff -56.1 RPP
Rents
Diff +19.0 RPP
| Category | Merced | Medford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 101.4 | +3.2 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 105.3 | +0.1 |
| Services | 158.3 | 102.3 | -56.1 |
| Rents | 78.6 | 97.7 | +19.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Merced 98.3
Medford 101.4
Goods
Merced 105.2
Medford 105.3
Services
Merced 158.3
Medford 102.3
Rents
Merced 78.6
Medford 97.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Medford is 56.1 points lower. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Medford, OR is 3.2% more expensive than Merced, CA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Medford 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 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 $103,213 in Medford, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Medford
101.4
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Merced would need to be in Medford for the same purchasing power:
| In Merced | In Medford | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $51,607 | +$1,607 |
| $75,000 | $77,410 | +$2,410 |
| $100,000 | $103,213 | +$3,213 |
| $150,000 | $154,820 | +$4,820 |
$ in Merced = in Medford
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 101.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Medford more expensive than Merced?
Medford is 3.2% more expensive than Merced. The overall cost index is 101.4 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Medford equals $100K in Merced?
A $100,000 salary in Merced has the same purchasing power as $103,213 in Medford. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Merced and Medford?
Rents in Merced are indexed at 78.6 while Medford is at 97.7 (national average = 100). Medford 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.