Overall
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 102.4
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff -4.2 RPP
Mount Vernon-Anacortes vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 4.1% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes.
4.1% less expensive
Merced, CA is 4.1% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 102.4). A $100,000 salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes buys about the same as $95,931 in Merced; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 102.4 (Mount Vernon-Anacortes) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Mount Vernon-Anacortes ≈ $95,931 purchasing power in Merced
- Services drives the gap (+62.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:CA 102.4→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × CA
- 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
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 105.0
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff +62.3 RPP
Rents
- Mount Vernon-Anacortes
- 108.2
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff -29.5 RPP
| Category | Mount Vernon-Anacortes | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 102.4 | 98.3 | -4.2 |
| Goods | 105.0 | 105.2 | +0.1 |
| Services | 96.0 | 158.3 | +62.3 |
| Rents | 108.2 | 78.6 | -29.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 102.4
Merced 98.3
Goods
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 105.0
Merced 105.2
Services
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 96.0
Merced 158.3
Rents
Mount Vernon-Anacortes 108.2
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Merced is 62.3 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Merced, CA is 4.1% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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 Mount Vernon-Anacortes to $95,931 in Merced, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Mount Vernon-Anacortes
102.4
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Mount Vernon-Anacortes | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $47,966 | $-2,034 |
| $75,000 | $71,949 | $-3,051 |
| $100,000 | $95,931 | $-4,069 |
| $150,000 | $143,897 | $-6,103 |
$ in Mount Vernon-Anacortes = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (102.4 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Merced more expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
Merced is 4.1% less expensive than Mount Vernon-Anacortes. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 102.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Mount Vernon-Anacortes?
A $100,000 salary in Mount Vernon-Anacortes has the same purchasing power as $95,931 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Mount Vernon-Anacortes and Merced?
Rents in Mount Vernon-Anacortes are indexed at 108.2 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Mount Vernon-Anacortes 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.