Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff -12.3 RPP
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 11.1% less expensive than Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura.
11.1% less expensive
Merced, CA is 11.1% less expensive than Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 110.5). A $100,000 salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura buys about the same as $88,909 in Merced; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 110.5 (Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura ≈ $88,909 purchasing power in Merced
- Rents drives the gap (-92.5 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:CA 110.5→98.3
TIER-GAP · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- SAME-STATE Same state · 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
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff +5.4 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff -92.5 RPP
| Category | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 110.5 | 98.3 | -12.3 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 105.2 | 0.0 |
| Services | 152.9 | 158.3 | +5.4 |
| Rents | 171.1 | 78.6 | -92.5 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 110.5
Merced 98.3
Goods
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 105.2
Merced 105.2
Services
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 152.9
Merced 158.3
Rents
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 171.1
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Merced is 92.5 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.
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA and Merced, CA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.3 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 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 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura corresponds to $88,909 in Merced.
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
110.5
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,455 | $-5,545 |
| $75,000 | $66,682 | $-8,318 |
| $100,000 | $88,909 | $-11,091 |
| $150,000 | $133,364 | $-16,636 |
$ in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (110.5 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura and Merced share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 15.3 to 12.3 RPP points. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 16.8 points between the first and latest shared releases (11.4 to 5.4 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura RPP | Merced RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 109.5 | 94.3 | 15.3 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2012 | 110.4 | 98.6 | 11.8 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2016 | 111.2 | 95.3 | 15.8 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2020 | 111.3 | 98.7 | 12.6 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2024 | 110.5 | 98.3 | 12.3 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 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 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura?
Merced is 11.1% less expensive than Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 110.5 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura?
A $100,000 salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura has the same purchasing power as $88,909 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura and Merced?
Rents in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura are indexed at 171.1 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 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.