Seattle, WA vs Merced, CA
Moving from Seattle to Merced? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($750,279 → $419,171 median home) and taxes.
Seattle vs Merced 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 Seattle, WA, you'd need about $88,368 in Merced, CA (−$11,632).
Livability — Seattle, WA: 48 · Merced, CA: 57 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,200 sqft in Seattle vs 1,790 sqft in Merced ($417 vs $279 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Seattle, WA | Merced, CA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $26,784 | $23,700 | −$3,084 |
| Groceries | $5,405 | $5,247 | −$159 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $5,125 | +$1,050 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $3,804 | +$2,256 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,500 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $8,826 | $18,715 | +$9,889 |
| Total | $48,138 | $58,091 | +$9,952 |
Side by side
| Metric | Seattle, WA | Merced, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.7 | 99.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.59% | 10.70% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.1% | 5.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.41 | $5.67 |
| Median home price | $750,279 | $419,171 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.0× | 6.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.9% | -1.4% |
| Price per square foot | $417 | $279 |
| Median rent | $2,232 | $1,975 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 13.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 8.82% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | 13.30% |
| Property tax rate | 0.88% | 0.68% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $7,200 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $19,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.65% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 31 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $950 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 35.3 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 4.85 |
| Natural gas / mo | $58 | $72 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $167 | $138 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 500 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 84 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 45 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 39.3 | 13.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 6.3 | 0.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 47% | 75% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 5 |