Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 99.8
Diff +1.5 RPP
Merced vs Waterbury-Shelton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Waterbury-Shelton is 1.5% more expensive than Merced.
1.5% more expensive
Waterbury-Shelton, CT is 1.5% more expensive than Merced, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 99.8 vs 98.3). A $100,000 salary in Merced buys about the same as $101,529 in Waterbury-Shelton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 98.3 (Merced) vs 99.8 (Waterbury-Shelton)
- $100k in Merced ≈ $101,529 purchasing power in Waterbury-Shelton
- Services drives the gap (-10.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:CT 98.3→99.8
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE CA × CT
- 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
Waterbury-Shelton
99.8
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Merced, CA and Waterbury-Shelton, CT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.5 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Waterbury-Shelton is 10.8 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 $101,529 in Waterbury-Shelton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Merced
- 105.2
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 97.3
Diff -7.8 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 147.6
Diff -10.8 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
- Waterbury-Shelton
- 89.1
Diff +10.5 RPP
| Category | Merced | Waterbury-Shelton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 98.3 | 99.8 | +1.5 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 97.3 | -7.8 |
| Services | 158.3 | 147.6 | -10.8 |
| Rents | 78.6 | 89.1 | +10.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Merced 98.3
Waterbury-Shelton 99.8
Goods
Merced 105.2
Waterbury-Shelton 97.3
Services
Merced 158.3
Waterbury-Shelton 147.6
Rents
Merced 78.6
Waterbury-Shelton 89.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Merced would need to be in Waterbury-Shelton for the same purchasing power:
| In Merced | In Waterbury-Shelton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,765 | +$765 |
| $75,000 | $76,147 | +$1,147 |
| $100,000 | $101,529 | +$1,529 |
| $150,000 | $152,294 | +$2,294 |
$ in Merced = in Waterbury-Shelton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (98.3 → 99.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Waterbury-Shelton more expensive than Merced?
Waterbury-Shelton is 1.5% more expensive than Merced. The overall cost index is 99.8 vs 98.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Waterbury-Shelton equals $100K in Merced?
A $100,000 salary in Merced has the same purchasing power as $101,529 in Waterbury-Shelton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Merced and Waterbury-Shelton?
Rents in Merced are indexed at 78.6 while Waterbury-Shelton is at 89.1 (national average = 100). Waterbury-Shelton 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.