Overall
- Sherman-Denison
- 93.8
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff +4.5 RPP
Sherman-Denison vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 4.8% more expensive than Sherman-Denison.
4.8% more expensive
Merced, CA is 4.8% more expensive than Sherman-Denison, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 93.8). A $100,000 salary in Sherman-Denison buys about the same as $104,803 in Merced; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 93.8 (Sherman-Denison) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Sherman-Denison ≈ $104,803 purchasing power in Merced
- Services drives the gap (+75.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:CA 93.8→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE TX × CA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- 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
- Sherman-Denison
- 93.8
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff +11.4 RPP
Services
- Sherman-Denison
- 83.3
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff +75.0 RPP
Rents
- Sherman-Denison
- 89.5
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff -10.8 RPP
| Category | Sherman-Denison | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 93.8 | 98.3 | +4.5 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 105.2 | +11.4 |
| Services | 83.3 | 158.3 | +75.0 |
| Rents | 89.5 | 78.6 | -10.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Sherman-Denison 93.8
Merced 98.3
Goods
Sherman-Denison 93.8
Merced 105.2
Services
Sherman-Denison 83.3
Merced 158.3
Rents
Sherman-Denison 89.5
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Merced is 75.0 points higher. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Merced, CA is 4.8% more expensive than Sherman-Denison, TX, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 4.5-point overall gap.
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.
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 Sherman-Denison to $104,803 in Merced, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Sherman-Denison
93.8
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Sherman-Denison would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Sherman-Denison | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,402 | +$2,402 |
| $75,000 | $78,602 | +$3,602 |
| $100,000 | $104,803 | +$4,803 |
| $150,000 | $157,205 | +$7,205 |
$ in Sherman-Denison = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (93.8 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Sherman-Denison and Merced share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.8 to 4.5 RPP points. Merced remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 72.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.8 to 75.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Sherman-Denison RPP | Merced RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 91.4 | 94.3 | 2.8 points Merced higher |
| 2012 | 94.2 | 98.6 | 4.4 points Merced higher |
| 2016 | 95.4 | 95.3 | 0.1 points Sherman-Denison higher |
| 2020 | 92.4 | 98.7 | 6.4 points Merced higher |
| 2024 | 93.8 | 98.3 | 4.5 points Merced 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 Sherman-Denison?
Merced is 4.8% more expensive than Sherman-Denison. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 93.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Sherman-Denison?
A $100,000 salary in Sherman-Denison has the same purchasing power as $104,803 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Sherman-Denison and Merced?
Rents in Sherman-Denison are indexed at 89.5 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Sherman-Denison 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.