Merced

Population & Demographics

Merced, CA

Merced is home to 91,953 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 35,505 resident workers commute each day.

CaliforniaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
91,953
people
Population

91,953 residents

Median age 30.0 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Merced population & demographics

Who lives in Merced — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
91,953
Median age
30.0yrs
Median household income
$63,122
Median home value
$372,600
Median gross rent
$1,393/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
20.2%
Poverty rate
23.9%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Merced

How Merced breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

Hispanic or Latino60.1%
White21.1%
Asian9.4%
Black4.6%
Two or more races3.6%
Some other race0.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.2%

Race across Merced

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Merced.

Merced at a glance
Employed Residents
35,505
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
26.3mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
31.3%
Share working within the area
Work from home
8.4%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Modesto
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Merced proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Merced commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

47
Commute Score

47 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Merced

35,505 commutes, one dot at a time

Merced

Where 35,505 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Merced, by worker count.

1Merced0.0 mi11,122
2Modesto37.1 mi1,273
3Atwater7.4 mi1,178
4San Jose76.9 mi1,122
5Fresno52.6 mi1,048
6Turlock24.6 mi1,031
7Livingston14.4 mi757
8Stockton64.6 mi504

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Merced.

1Merced0.0 mi11,122
2Atwater7.4 mi2,260
3Franklin3.1 mi689
4Fresno52.6 mi667
5Los Banos26.3 mi598
6Winton9.4 mi493
7McSwain6.1 mi459
8Livingston14.4 mi435

Top industries

The sectors that employ Merced’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance20.4%
EDEducational Services15.5%
RTRetail Trade11.5%
PAPublic Administration10.9%
AFAccommodation and Food Services9.0%
MFManufacturing6.3%
COConstruction3.7%
FIFinance and Insurance3.2%
WSWholesale Trade2.9%
Connectivity

Internet options for Merced

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

4 providers · 1 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps98%
5 Gbps78%
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Merced

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).