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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-FRANKLIN-CDP-MERCED-COUNTY-CA · Franklin CDP (Merced County), CA 7,487 pop · income 29th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Franklin CDP (Merced County)
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Franklin CDP (Merced County) on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Tell City · lowest
50,702
Tell City · lowest
50,702 median HH income
36.5% of the leader · rank #1
Franklin CDP… · this city
56,274
Franklin CDP… · this city
56,274 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #2
Riverton · near
56,280
Riverton · near
56,280 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #3
Alma · near
56,284
Alma · near
56,284 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #4
Ligonier · near
56,286
Ligonier · near
56,286 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #5
Bazine · near
56,288
Bazine · near
56,288 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #6
Union · highest
139,013
Union · highest
139,013 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Franklin CDP (Merced County) on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 7,487.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Franklin CDP (Merced County) lands in the 29th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
29th
percentile, household income
63rd
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Franklin CDP (Merced County), CA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 7,487 residents in Franklin CDP (Merced County), a small town within California. The typical household in Franklin CDP (Merced County) brings in $56,274 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 17.3%. Franklin CDP (Merced County)'s housing stock carries a median value of $285,700, and the median resident age is 34.2 years. About 10.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 46.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
California carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, California scores 110.7 (Well Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,053 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts California's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 88.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Franklin CDP (Merced County)'s data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Franklin CDP (Merced County), city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Franklin CDP (Merced County)?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 17.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Which cities make useful reference points for Franklin CDP (Merced County)?
Within California, the closest population matches are Sebastopol (7,466 residents, $99,600 income); Winters (7,453 residents, $132,650 income); California Polytechnic State University (7,529 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Haddon Heights, NJ (7,488 residents); Tell City, IN (7,490 residents); Meraux, LA (7,492 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
What does the journey to work look like in Franklin CDP (Merced County)?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Below median income · poverty 17.3% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · Franklin CDP (Merced County), CA
17/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income F
$56,274
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
17.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living F
110.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Franklin CDP (Merced County) profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 29/100 (F) · $56,274
Poverty rate: 18/100 (F) · 17.3%
Bachelor's+ share: 9/100 (F) · 10.8%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
How does Franklin CDP (Merced County) compare to other US cities?
Where Franklin CDP (Merced County) sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income29% higher than other cities
Home value63% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Franklin CDP (Merced County) against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to California only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
California-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Franklin CDP (Merced County) near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Franklin CDP (Merced County) ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Franklin CDP (Merced County) only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,098 of 1,338
18th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#1,082 of 1,343
19th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#242 of 1,450
83rd percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,188 of 1,458
18th percentile in California
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within California only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
29th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Franklin CDP (Merced County)'s home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$285,70037th percentilemore affordable than 37% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Franklin CDP (Merced County)'s home-value-to-income ratio: 5.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,030 of 15,516
More affordable than 16% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,840 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.1×, Franklin CDP (Merced County) sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,030 of 15,516 and #9,840 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$56,274Franklin CDP (Merced County), CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Franklin CDP (Merced County), CA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Franklin CDP (Merced County), CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)46.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
7,487
Median Income
$56,274
Median Home Value
$285,700
Median Age
34.2
Poverty Rate
17.3%
Labor force participation
46.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.8%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.4%
Carpool
6.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
6.6%
Other
1.7%
Based on 2,572 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
California statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across California at $275 (electricity about $150 , water and sewer about $70 ).
These are California statewide averages, not a meter reading for Franklin CDP (Merced County). Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
California's BEA cost-of-living index is 110.7 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Franklin CDP (Merced County) is $2,053/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to California statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a California statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Franklin CDP (Merced County) sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Franklin CDP (Merced County) compares to similar-size California cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.