2026 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Cathedral City, CA vs Merced, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Merced or is it cheaper to live in Cathedral City?
- Merced is 16.8% less expensive than Cathedral City.

Which city has more affordable housing, Merced or Cathedral City?
- Merced housing costs are 23.7% less expensive than Cathedral City housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Cathedral City or is Health Care more affordable in Merced.
- Health related expenses are 38.9% more in Merced.
 Cathedral City, CAMerced, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock109.1100
 Food & Groceries98.7  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock121.3100
 Housing144.5  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$373,000$338,100
 Utilities113  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock101.1100
 Miscellaneous112.1  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Cathedral City    3 Reviews

Cathedral City is cheaper than Palm Springs and a few other local cities. It has lovely mountain views. It's a decidely middle-middle class community, especially on  More

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Cathedral City enjoys the lowest crime rate in the entire Coachella  More

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Relatively because it depends on where you came from. We moved here from Denver. There's been one murder here this year. I feel rather safe in this area as far as  More

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Reviews for Merced    44 Reviews

Merced is totally slept on - you want a little bit of everything CA has to offer, at a fraction of the price of other CA cities? Merced is the place to go. The town  More

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Over 6 years ago

Good place to live. More affordable than most of california. The city is growing and there is alot of business and growth here. Moved from the Bay area years ago and  More

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Great place to live. Lots of progress and changes coming to the city. Great place to raise a family. UC Merced is expanding and businesses are investing. Downtown is  More

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