county

Merced County, CA

Demographic and economic profile of Merced County, CA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Merced County is a predominantly agricultural economy in California's San Joaquin Valley, with a population of 296,774 that grew 6.1% over five years and a notably young median age of 31.8. The labor force is cost-competitive — median worker earnings of $36,747 and a median home value of $368,400 sit well below state norms — though workforce depth is constrained by a 10.8% unemployment rate, 58.9% labor force participation, and only 14.8% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher. The county's 26.1% foreign-born share and 18.4% poverty rate reflect a working population tied closely to labor-intensive industries, with a per capita income of $27,711 and GDP per capita of $32,071 indicating modest economic output per resident.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

296,774

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$65,510

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

31.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+6.1% since 2018

Merced County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • Some Other Race Alone119,779 (41.3%)
  • White Alone91,462 (31.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race33,700 (11.6%)
  • Asian Alone20,971 (7.2%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races10,916 (3.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone8,082 (2.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish117,933
  2. 2.Other Indo-European10,924
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island7,334
  4. 4.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)1,089
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)695

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

29.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

11.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

25.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

7,464

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$32,071

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$27,711

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

10.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

18.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance26,483
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)12,246
  3. 3.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining11,673
  4. 4.Manufacturing (Group)10,784
  5. 5.Construction (Group)9,885

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations30,569
  2. 2.Service Occupations21,402
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations21,288
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations21,257
  5. 5.Sales & Office Occupations20,387

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 6.61×)11,757
  2. 2.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.47×)3,778
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.27×)8,270
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.23×)9,466
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 1.06×)11,758

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$368,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,284/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

54.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,99913,793 (29.7%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99911,264 (24.2%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9997,492 (16.1%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9993,341 (7.2%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9992,411 (5.2%)
  • $750,000 to $999,9991,804 (3.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

14.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

71.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,747

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

31.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone84,446 (76.0%)
  • Carpooled11,690 (10.5%)
  • Worked At Home7,341 (6.6%)
  • Other3,983 (3.6%)
  • Walked2,691 (2.4%)
  • Public Transit565 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.