Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
- St. Joseph
- 86.4
Diff -11.9 RPP
Merced vs St. Joseph
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. Joseph is 12.1% less expensive than Merced.
12.1% less expensive
St. Joseph, MO-KS is 12.1% less expensive than Merced, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 86.4 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Merced buys about the same as $87,898 in St. Joseph; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Merced) vs 86.4 (St. Joseph)
- $100k in Merced ≈ $87,898 purchasing power in St. Joseph
- Services drives the gap (-70.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:MO 98.3→86.4
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE CA × MO
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Merced, CA and St. Joseph, MO-KS sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 11.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Services leads the difference, with St. Joseph 70.1 points lower 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 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 $87,898 in St. Joseph, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Merced and St. Joseph share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 1.7 to 11.9 RPP points. Merced remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 53.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (16.4 to 70.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Merced RPP | St. Joseph RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.3 | 92.6 | 1.7 points Merced higher |
| 2012 | 98.6 | 91.0 | 7.6 points Merced higher |
| 2016 | 95.3 | 88.7 | 6.6 points Merced higher |
| 2020 | 98.7 | 87.8 | 11.0 points Merced higher |
| 2024 | 98.3 | 86.4 | 11.9 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Merced
- 105.2
- St. Joseph
- 94.2
Diff -11.0 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
- St. Joseph
- 88.3
Diff -70.1 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
- St. Joseph
- 55.4
Diff -23.3 RPP
| Category | Merced | St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 86.4 | -11.9 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 94.2 | -11.0 |
| Services | 158.3 | 88.3 | -70.1 |
| Rents | 78.6 | 55.4 | -23.3 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Merced 98.3
St. Joseph 86.4
Goods
Merced 105.2
St. Joseph 94.2
Services
Merced 158.3
St. Joseph 88.3
Rents
Merced 78.6
St. Joseph 55.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Merced would need to be in St. Joseph for the same purchasing power:
| In Merced | In St. Joseph | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $43,949 | $-6,051 |
| $75,000 | $65,924 | $-9,076 |
| $100,000 | $87,898 | $-12,102 |
| $150,000 | $131,847 | $-18,153 |
$ in Merced = in St. Joseph
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 86.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
St. Joseph
86.4
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. Joseph more expensive than Merced?
St. Joseph is 12.1% less expensive than Merced. The overall cost index is 86.4 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. Joseph equals $100K in Merced?
A $100,000 salary in Merced has the same purchasing power as $87,898 in St. Joseph. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Merced and St. Joseph?
Rents in Merced are indexed at 78.6 while St. Joseph is at 55.4 (national average = 100). Merced 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.