Official Federal Data
Merced County, California
FIPS 06047 · Merced, CA · Population 290,201
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$65,510 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
10.2% ▲
Unemployment
4% national
$13.3B ▲
GDP
15.3% ▲
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$65,510 ▲
Per Capita
$28,030 ▲
Mean Household
$87,781 ▲
Poverty Rate
19.1% ▼
Median Income Comparison
Merced County$65,510
California$99,122
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 28.7%
18-34 · 25.8%
35-54 · 23.8%
55-64 · 10%
65+ · 11.7%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
72.3%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▼ 17.3 pts
15.3%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▼ 20.4 pts
4.7%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▼ 9.4 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
290,201
Population
128,696
Labor Force
Employed
114,903
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
10.2% ▲ +0.4 pts YoY
Mean Commute 5 min above national avg
31.3 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
6.6%
Key Takeaways
- Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
- Elevated poverty: At 19.1%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
- Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 20.4 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
- Young population: Median age of 32 is materially below the U.S. norm, a workforce pipeline asset.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 12,840 workers (26% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $52,006.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $13.3B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $73,102 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $27,735, a 2.6x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
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Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Goods-Producing Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
25,383
Cluster Employment
2.04x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry
29.84x 6,223
Food Manufacturing
6.13x 5,982
Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
2.16x 669
2.04x 25,383
Social Assistance
2.01x 5,501
Truck Transportation
1.71x 1,391
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.15x
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
891 employed
0.18x
Educational Services
314 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry concentrates at 29.84x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 6 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$391,800 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,343 ▲
Rent/Mo
54% ▲
Owner-Occ
5.3% ▼
Vacancy
6.0x
Home Value to Income Ratio - Stretched
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$1,116/mo
1 Bedroom
$1,213/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,503/mo
3 Bedroom
$2,067/mo
4 Bedroom
$2,503/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$1,638/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- Stretched market: Home value to income ratio of 6.0x is well above the ~4.1x national average; attainable workforce housing may be a recruitment friction.
- Affordable rent tiers: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,638/mo).
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
172,870 ▲
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 5 min above national avg
31.3 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
6.6%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
73.2%
of prime-age population
▼ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
15.3% ▲
HS Diploma+
72.3% ▲
Regional / Statewide Institutions
Total credentials awarded
77,028/yr
15,215/yr
14,884/yr
12,110/yr
12,064/yr
11,468/yr
11,287/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
16.7%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
26.6%
Service
18.6%
Sales & Office
17.7%
Construction / Maint.
18.5%
Production / Transport
18.5%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 114,903 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Talent pipeline: 6 regional institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 42,209 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
Merced County shows strong potential for support activities for agriculture and forestry attraction, with a 29.84x concentration and 6,223 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The interconnected base across support activities for agriculture and forestry, food manufacturing, and transit and ground passenger transportation creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Merced County, California, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Merced County, California?
290,201 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Merced County, California?
$65,510 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Merced County, California?
10.2% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Merced County, California?
$13.3B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
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