2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Merced, CA vs Watsonville, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Watsonville or is it cheaper to live in Merced?
- Watsonville is 70.5% more expensive than Merced.

Which city has more affordable housing, Watsonville or Merced?
- Watsonville housing costs are 134.4% more expensive than Merced housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Merced or is Health Care more affordable in Watsonville.
- Health related expenses are 10.0% less in Watsonville.
 Merced, CAWatsonville, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock186.0100
 Food & Groceries99.5  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock109.2100
 Housing110.3  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$803,400$338,100
 Utilities110  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock104.0100
 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 Watsonville    3 Reviews

We live in a nice area and love the climate but cost of living have gotten way out of hand. Vandals walk around smashing windows over and over without getting  More

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the cost of housing is slightly more affordable (just slightly). Close to the beach and near perfect weather. Especially during summer when it was 107 in San Jose' it  More

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Over 19 years ago

Nice neighborhood, but since moving here we have not felt a sense of  More

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