Merced, California Cost Of Living

Buy Rent

D

Overall 6%

Goods & Services 2%

Housing 8%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2022 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Merced	California	National
Cost of living	106	140	100
Goods & Services	102	109	100
Groceries	99	112	100
Health care	100	109	100
Housing	92	196	100
Transportation	135	132	100
Utilities	145	127	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Merced is 24% lower than the California average
The cost of living in Merced is 6% higher than the national average
Merced housing is 8% lower than the national average
California general sales tax is 42% higher than the national average
California state income tax is 59% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$64,961	$5,413	$1,516	$1,949
Renters	$28,709	$2,392	$670	$861

The percentage of monthly income spent on housing related expenses can help predict the affordability of housing in Merced, CA, as well as what the overall cost of living might be. Generally, a good rule to follow is that the debt-to-income (DTI) level you want to maintain is 28 percent or less of your income on your rent or mortgage payments and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses and debts. In Merced, homeowners have a median income of $64,961. Using that number, a maximum of $1,516 per month should be allocated to housing expenses. For those who are renting instead of owning, the median income is $28,709, which means there is a maximum of $670 to be spent on the costs of renting a home or apartment.

California Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
California	7.25%	10.5%

California Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
California	1%	13.3%

Goods & Services

Item	Merced	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$20.43	$20.27	0.8%
Beauty Salon	$58.44	$40.39	44.7%
Toothpaste	$3.19	$2.36	35.2%
Shampoo	$1.05	$1.08	2.8%
Movie	$12.23	$10.99	11.3%
Bowling	$17.98	$15.49	16.0%

Groceries

Item	Merced	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.34	$4.30	24.3%
Fried Chicken	$1.33	$1.40	5.2%
Milk	$2.58	$2.20	16.9%
Potatoes	$2.48	$3.22	23.0%
Pizza	$14.00	$10.74	30.4%
Beer	$8.83	$9.60	8.0%

Health Care

Item	Merced	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$126.50	$109.73	15.3%
Doctor	$114.86	$118.34	2.9%
Dentist	$97.05	$100.94	3.9%
Ibuprofen	$10.31	$9.93	3.8%
Lipitor	$470.65	$469.53	0.2%

Housing

Item	Merced	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$170,500.00	$184,700.00	7.7%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,688.63	$1,229.62	37.3%
Apartment Rent	$855.00	$949.00	9.9%

Transportation

Item	Merced	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.84	$2.71	41.6%
Tire Balancing	$64.74	$51.86	24.8%

Utilities

Item	Merced	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$313.19	$170.84	83.3%
Phone	$179.08	$187.18	4.3%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Tuttle, CA	69	112	12.4%
Hornitos, CA	0	112	12.4%
University of California-Merced, CA	0	112	12.4%
El Nido, CA	478	91	8.8%
Planada, CA	4,499	98	1.8%
Merced, CA	81,461	106	6.1%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Farmington Hills, MI	81,154	107	7.2%
Lakewood, CA	81,054	142	42.1%
Warwick, RI	81,881	113	13.5%
Kawartha Lakes, ON	81,906	n/a
Palm Coast, FL	80,948	99	1.5%
Merced, CA	81,461	106	6.1%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.