Overall
- Providence-Warwick
- 101.8
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff -3.5 RPP
Providence-Warwick vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 3.4% less expensive than Providence-Warwick.
3.4% less expensive
Merced, CA is 3.4% less expensive than Providence-Warwick, RI-MA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 101.8). A $100,000 salary in Providence-Warwick buys about the same as $96,563 in Merced; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 101.8 (Providence-Warwick) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Providence-Warwick ≈ $96,563 purchasing power in Merced
- Rents drives the gap (-25.2 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair RI:CA 101.8→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BENCH-CROSS · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE RI × 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
- Providence-Warwick
- 97.1
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff +8.1 RPP
Services
- Providence-Warwick
- 148.8
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff +9.5 RPP
Rents
- Providence-Warwick
- 103.9
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff -25.2 RPP
| Category | Providence-Warwick | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 101.8 | 98.3 | -3.5 |
| Goods | 97.1 | 105.2 | +8.1 |
| Services | 148.8 | 158.3 | +9.5 |
| Rents | 103.9 | 78.6 | -25.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Providence-Warwick 101.8
Merced 98.3
Goods
Providence-Warwick 97.1
Merced 105.2
Services
Providence-Warwick 148.8
Merced 158.3
Rents
Providence-Warwick 103.9
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Merced is 25.2 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 3.4% less expensive than Providence-Warwick, RI-MA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 3.5-point overall gap.
This route crosses the national benchmark: Providence-Warwick 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 Providence-Warwick corresponds to $96,563 in Merced.
Providence-Warwick
101.8
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Providence-Warwick would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Providence-Warwick | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,281 | $-1,719 |
| $75,000 | $72,422 | $-2,578 |
| $100,000 | $96,563 | $-3,437 |
| $150,000 | $144,844 | $-5,156 |
$ in Providence-Warwick = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (101.8 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Providence-Warwick and Merced share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 9.4 to 3.5 RPP points. Providence-Warwick remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 47.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (37.9 to 9.5 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Providence-Warwick RPP | Merced RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 103.7 | 94.3 | 9.4 points Providence-Warwick higher |
| 2012 | 100.3 | 98.6 | 1.8 points Providence-Warwick higher |
| 2016 | 101.9 | 95.3 | 6.6 points Providence-Warwick higher |
| 2020 | 101.7 | 98.7 | 2.9 points Providence-Warwick higher |
| 2024 | 101.8 | 98.3 | 3.5 points Providence-Warwick 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 Providence-Warwick?
Merced is 3.4% less expensive than Providence-Warwick. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 101.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Providence-Warwick?
A $100,000 salary in Providence-Warwick has the same purchasing power as $96,563 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Providence-Warwick and Merced?
Rents in Providence-Warwick are indexed at 103.9 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Providence-Warwick 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.