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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-MERCED-CA · Merced, CA 89,766 pop · income 35th pct · 63 tracts
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 Merced
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Merced on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Trenton · lowest
47,102
Trenton · lowest
47,102 median HH income
42.0% of the leader · rank #1
Waterbury · near
59,934
Waterbury · near
59,934 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #2
Merced · this city
59,938
Merced · this city
59,938 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #3
Basin · near
59,941
Basin · near
59,941 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #4
Abbotsford · near
59,943
Abbotsford · near
59,943 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #5
Winder · near
59,944
Winder · near
59,944 median HH income
53.5% of the leader · rank #6
Germantown · highest
112,149
Germantown · highest
112,149 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Merced on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 89,766.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Merced - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Merced lands in the 35th percentile for household income and the 10th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
35th
percentile, household income
72nd
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
10th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Merced, CA
Merced is a small city in California, home to 89,766 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Merced brings in $59,938 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 18.6%. Typical homes in Merced are valued around $347,700, and the median resident age is 29.8 years. 18.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 54.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 309 residential building permits were authorized in Merced (Construction Slowdown), down 54% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Merced's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 3577.3 in FBI UCR data, above the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 59.7°F with 10.4 inches of precipitation per year.
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $2,053 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across California, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Commute times here average 24.8 minutes, with 75.4% driving alone and 7.9% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 out of 100 (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Merced'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 schools and households to population change to work and mobility to reported crime to within-city variation to climate and hazard context; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Merced, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Merced?
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.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 18.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Merced?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within California, the closest population matches are Westminster (90,147 residents, $82,686 income); Hemet (90,646 residents, $53,623 income); Indio (90,669 residents, $78,709 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Trenton, NJ (89,966 residents); Fort Smith, AR (89,496 residents); Clifton, NJ (89,247 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.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 35 public schools within the city match. 18.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
PlainCities matches 63 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Merced growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +9,270 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +10.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 309 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
2020 estimate
90,454
2025 estimate
99,724
Period change
+10.2%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the journey to work look like in Merced?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.4%. The reported mean trip to work is 24.8 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
75.4%
Work from home
7.9%
Public transit
0.8%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 34,472 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Merced?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 3577.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 57% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
3577.3
Violent rate
784.8
Property rate
2792.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 59.7°F, with 10.4 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for California is 88.7 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
88.7
Annual precipitation
10.4 in
Mean temperature
59.7°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
Below median income · poverty 18.6% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
F
City profile score · Merced, CA
17/100
5 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
$59,938
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
18.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
18.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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 F
785 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Merced profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 34/100 (F) · $59,938
Bachelor's+ share: 28/100 (F) · 18.0%
Poverty rate: 16/100 (F) · 18.6%
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Violent crime: 2/100 (F) · 785 /100k
Where Merced sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Merced's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Merced highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Merced, CA (this city): home $347,700, crime 3,577/100k
Trenton, NJ : home $122,500, crime 3,315/100k
Fort Smith, AR : home $168,100, crime 4,527/100k
Clifton, NJ : home $444,300, crime 2,431/100k
Waukegan, IL : home $177,600, crime 2,060/100k
Avondale, AZ : home $348,700, crime 2,611/100k
Westminster, CA : home $820,000, crime 2,934/100k
Hemet, CA : home $314,200, crime 2,059/100k
San Leandro, CA : home $813,600, crime 4,472/100k
Santa Barbara, CA : home $1,466,400, crime 2,458/100k
Santa Monica, CA : home $1,810,200, crime 5,568/100k
How does Merced compare to other US cities?
Here's how Merced stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income35% higher than other cities
Home value72% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety10% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just California and the picture shifts: Merced ranks #398 of 441 California cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Merced 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 Merced near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Merced ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Merced only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,060 of 1,338
21st percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#963 of 1,343
28th percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#212 of 1,450
85th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#949 of 1,458
35th 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
35th percentile nationally for median household income · 10th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Merced's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Merced's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Merced's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$347,70028th percentilemore affordable than 28% 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
Merced's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,913 of 15,516
More affordable than 10% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#555 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 5.8×, Merced sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,913 of 15,516 and #555 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
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
$59,938Merced, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Merced, 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 Merced, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)18.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)18.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
89,766
Median Income
$59,938
Median Home Value
$347,700
Median Age
29.8
Poverty Rate
18.6%
Labor force participation
54.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
18.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
3577.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
784.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2792.6
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
59.7°F
Annual Precipitation
10.4"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
35
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Merced's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
90,454 residents
2021
93,513 residents
2022
95,725 residents
2023
97,584 residents
2024
99,142 residents
2025
99,724 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
309
housing units authorized
Single-Family
309
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
668
668
0
$185.7M
2020
744
723
21
$222.7M
2021
723
723
0
$198.2M
2022
568
214
354
$116.8M
2023
241
241
0
$71.1M
2024
309
309
0
$95.3M
Permit volume decreased 54% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
24.8 minutes
Drive Alone
75.4%
Carpool
7.4%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
1.7%
Work from Home
7.9%
Other
6.8%
Based on 34,472 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 Merced. 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 Merced 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 Merced sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Merced 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, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.