Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff -2.2 RPP
Norwich-New London-Willimantic vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 2.2% less expensive than Norwich-New London-Willimantic.
2.2% less expensive
Merced, CA is 2.2% less expensive than Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 100.4). A $100,000 salary in Norwich-New London-Willimantic buys about the same as $97,840 in Merced; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 100.4 (Norwich-New London-Willimantic) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Norwich-New London-Willimantic ≈ $97,840 purchasing power in Merced
- Rents drives the gap (-15.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CT:CA 100.4→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE CT × CA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BENCH-CROSS Benchmark cross
- 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff +7.8 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff +9.8 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff -15.0 RPP
| Category | Norwich-New London-Willimantic | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 100.4 | 98.3 | -2.2 |
| Goods | 97.3 | 105.2 | +7.8 |
| Services | 148.6 | 158.3 | +9.8 |
| Rents | 93.7 | 78.6 | -15.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Norwich-New London-Willimantic 100.4
Merced 98.3
Goods
Norwich-New London-Willimantic 97.3
Merced 105.2
Services
Norwich-New London-Willimantic 148.6
Merced 158.3
Rents
Norwich-New London-Willimantic 93.7
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Merced is 15.0 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.
Merced, CA is 2.2% less expensive than Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.2-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Norwich-New London-Willimantic 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 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 Norwich-New London-Willimantic corresponds to $97,840 in Merced.
Norwich-New London-Willimantic
100.4
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Norwich-New London-Willimantic would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Norwich-New London-Willimantic | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,920 | $-1,080 |
| $75,000 | $73,380 | $-1,620 |
| $100,000 | $97,840 | $-2,160 |
| $150,000 | $146,759 | $-3,241 |
$ in Norwich-New London-Willimantic = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (100.4 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Norwich-New London-Willimantic and Merced share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 9.4 to 2.2 RPP points. Norwich-New London-Willimantic remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 63.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (54.0 to 9.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Norwich-New London-Willimantic RPP | Merced RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.7 | 94.3 | 9.4 points Norwich-New London-Willimantic higher |
| 2012 | 101.7 | 98.6 | 3.2 points Norwich-New London-Willimantic higher |
| 2016 | 102.6 | 95.3 | 7.3 points Norwich-New London-Willimantic higher |
| 2020 | 102.1 | 98.7 | 3.3 points Norwich-New London-Willimantic higher |
| 2024 | 100.4 | 98.3 | 2.2 points Norwich-New London-Willimantic 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 Merced more expensive than Norwich-New London-Willimantic?
Merced is 2.2% less expensive than Norwich-New London-Willimantic. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 100.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Norwich-New London-Willimantic?
A $100,000 salary in Norwich-New London-Willimantic has the same purchasing power as $97,840 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Norwich-New London-Willimantic and Merced?
Rents in Norwich-New London-Willimantic are indexed at 93.7 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Norwich-New London-Willimantic 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.