2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Richmond, VA vs Merced, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Merced or is it cheaper to live in Richmond?
- Merced is 14.6% more expensive than Richmond.

Which city has more affordable housing, Merced or Richmond?
- Merced housing costs are 13.8% more expensive than Richmond housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Richmond or is Health Care more affordable in Merced.
- Health related expenses are 22.3% more in Merced.
 Richmond, VAMerced, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock109.1100
 Food & Groceries98.0  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock121.3100
 Housing96.9  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$373,000$338,100
 Utilities99  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock101.1100
 Miscellaneous136.2  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Richmond    109 Reviews

Over 3 years ago

Lived here for a year and it’s not perfect but it’s constantly improving now (areas redevloped, more businesses, job growth). Cost of living is great compared to  More

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Over 4 years ago

We love Richmond so much that when we talk about where we'd like to live if we could live anywhere in the US, we always come back to RVA. We live in the city proper  More

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Over 4 years ago

I'm an out-of-towner but am coming up on 1 year in Richmond. I would summarize it this way: the best thing and the worst thing about Richmond is its location. I'll  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 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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