Merced, CA vs Austin, TX
Moving from Merced to Austin? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($419,171 → $428,524 median home) and taxes.
Merced vs Austin at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Merced, CA, you'd need about $98,653 in Austin, TX (−$1,347).
Livability — Merced, CA: 57 · Austin, TX: 70 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,790 sqft in Merced vs 2,450 sqft in Austin ($279 vs $204 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Merced, CA | Austin, TX | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,700 | $19,620 | −$4,080 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,647 | −$600 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,675 | −$1,450 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,836 | −$1,968 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $3,600 | +$2,100 |
| Taxes | $18,715 | $9,558 | −$9,157 |
| Total | $58,091 | $42,936 | −$15,155 |
Side by side
| Metric | Merced, CA | Austin, TX |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 99.6 | 98.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 10.70% | 4.30% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.6% | 14.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.67 | $5.59 |
| Median home price | $419,171 | $428,524 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 4.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.4% | -6.0% |
| Price per square foot | $279 | $204 |
| Median rent | $1,975 | $1,635 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 8.6% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 8.20% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | None |
| Property tax rate | 0.68% | 1.71% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $9,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 31 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $3,600 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $2,100 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 17.0 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.00 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $52 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $134 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 430 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 96 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 38 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 13.5 | 36.3 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 75% | 60% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |