Overall
- Merced
- 98.3
Diff +12.9 RPP
Wildwood-The Villages vs Merced
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Merced is 15% more expensive than Wildwood-The Villages.
15% more expensive
Merced, CA is 15% more expensive than Wildwood-The Villages, FL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 85.4). A $100,000 salary in Wildwood-The Villages buys about the same as $115,044 in Merced; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.4 (Wildwood-The Villages) vs 98.3 (Merced)
- $100k in Wildwood-The Villages ≈ $115,044 purchasing power in Merced
- Services drives the gap (+69.3 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair FL:CA 85.4→98.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-STEEP
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE FL × CA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-STEEP Steep PP convert
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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Wildwood-The Villages, FL and Merced, CA sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.9 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Services leads the difference, with Merced 69.3 points higher than Wildwood-The Villages. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Wildwood-The Villages to $115,044 in Merced, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Merced
- 105.2
Diff +8.9 RPP
Services
- Merced
- 158.3
Diff +69.3 RPP
Rents
- Merced
- 78.6
Diff +26.9 RPP
| Category | Wildwood-The Villages | Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.4 | 98.3 | +12.9 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 105.2 | +8.9 |
| Services | 89.0 | 158.3 | +69.3 |
| Rents | 51.7 | 78.6 | +26.9 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Wildwood-The Villages 85.4
Merced 98.3
Goods
Wildwood-The Villages 96.2
Merced 105.2
Services
Wildwood-The Villages 89.0
Merced 158.3
Rents
Wildwood-The Villages 51.7
Merced 78.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Wildwood-The Villages would need to be in Merced for the same purchasing power:
| In Wildwood-The Villages | In Merced | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $57,522 | +$7,522 |
| $75,000 | $86,283 | +$11,283 |
| $100,000 | $115,044 | +$15,044 |
| $150,000 | $172,566 | +$22,566 |
$ in Wildwood-The Villages = in Merced
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.4 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Wildwood-The Villages
85.4
Cost Index
Merced
98.3
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Merced more expensive than Wildwood-The Villages?
Merced is 15% more expensive than Wildwood-The Villages. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 85.4 (national average = 100).
What salary in Merced equals $100K in Wildwood-The Villages?
A $100,000 salary in Wildwood-The Villages has the same purchasing power as $115,044 in Merced. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Wildwood-The Villages and Merced?
Rents in Wildwood-The Villages are indexed at 51.7 while Merced is at 78.6 (national average = 100). Merced 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.