2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Merced, CA vs Santa Barbara, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Santa Barbara or is it cheaper to live in Merced?
- Santa Barbara is 41.8% more expensive than Merced.

Which city has more affordable housing, Santa Barbara or Merced?
- Santa Barbara housing costs are 332.2% more expensive than Merced housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Merced or is Health Care more affordable in Santa Barbara.
- Health related expenses are 6.7% less in Santa Barbara.
 Merced, CASanta Barbara, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock154.7100
 Food & Groceries99.5  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock113.2100
 Housing110.3  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$1,525,500$338,100
 Utilities110  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock97.0100
 Miscellaneous108.7  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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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 5 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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Reviews for Santa Barbara    51 Reviews

I moved to Santa Barbara around 23 years ago to study at Brooks, which like most of the Santa Barbara that I knew—has been destroyed. Homelessness, drugs, gangs, high  More

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Over 4 years ago

I fell in love with Santa Barbara about thirty years ago and finally moved here a few years ago. Because of the price of homes, it is an expensive place to live. The  More

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If you like high crime, paying a $4,500 a month mortgage and crazy high taxes, this is the place for you. It’s too bad because it wasn’t always like this. When I moved  More

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