Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff +5.5 RPP
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 6% more expensive than Slidell-Mandeville-Covington.
6% more expensive
Merced, CA is 6% more expensive than Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 92.7). A $100,000 salary in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington buys about the same as $105,984 in Merced; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.7 (Slidell-Mandeville-Covington) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington ≈ $105,984 purchasing power in Merced
- Services drives the gap (+86.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair LA:CA 92.7→98.3
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE LA × 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
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff +11.5 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff +86.7 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff -6.8 RPP
| Category | Slidell-Mandeville-Covington | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.7 | 98.3 | +5.5 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 105.2 | +11.5 |
| Services | 71.7 | 158.3 | +86.7 |
| Rents | 85.4 | 78.6 | -6.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 92.7
Merced 98.3
Goods
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 93.7
Merced 105.2
Services
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 71.7
Merced 158.3
Rents
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 85.4
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Merced is 86.7 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 6% more expensive than Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 5.5-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 Slidell-Mandeville-Covington to $105,984 in Merced, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington
92.7
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Slidell-Mandeville-Covington | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $52,992 | +$2,992 |
| $75,000 | $79,488 | +$4,488 |
| $100,000 | $105,984 | +$5,984 |
| $150,000 | $158,976 | +$8,976 |
$ in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.7 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Slidell-Mandeville-Covington and Merced share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 2.5 to 5.5 RPP points. Merced remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 73.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (12.7 to 86.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Slidell-Mandeville-Covington RPP | Merced RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.7 | 94.3 | 2.5 points Slidell-Mandeville-Covington higher |
| 2012 | 97.6 | 98.6 | 0.9 points Merced higher |
| 2016 | 98.7 | 95.3 | 3.4 points Slidell-Mandeville-Covington higher |
| 2020 | 95.7 | 98.7 | 3.1 points Merced higher |
| 2024 | 92.7 | 98.3 | 5.5 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 Slidell-Mandeville-Covington?
Merced is 6% more expensive than Slidell-Mandeville-Covington. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 92.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington?
A $100,000 salary in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington has the same purchasing power as $105,984 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Slidell-Mandeville-Covington and Merced?
Rents in Slidell-Mandeville-Covington are indexed at 85.4 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Slidell-Mandeville-Covington 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.