BallicoCA
A town of 447, settled in 1924.
Is Ballico a good place to live?
Ballico’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile, against 1.0 in California’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Ballico has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
What makes Ballico stand out
Where Ballico beats most towns.
447 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Moving to Ballico: who provides what
Ballico is unincorporated, so Merced County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Ballico.
A job hub: Ballico has 1.9 jobs for every working resident and draws in 271 commuters
Among working residents in Ballico, 2.8% work locally. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 92, to 275. For Ballico, the typical journey to work is 29 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 20 miles.
| Ballico | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.5% | 10% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The schools Ballico’s kids attend
Public schools: the Ballico-Cressey Elementary school district. Its one school is below. The town’s only public school teaches 293 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballico-Cressey Community CharterLargest public elementary schoolGrades 1–8 | Grades 1–8 | 293 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts
Mild winters and hot summers: that is Ballico’s year
The town’s midsummer high stands at 95°F, where California’s towns sit at 89°F and U.S. towns at 85°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Ballico is
Nearly two fifths of Ballico adults feel lonely. Ballico: 70% of adults had a checkup this year.
| Ballico | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 72% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 36% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 16% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Ballico | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 9.2% | 7.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 6.3% | 5.1% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 11.4% | 9.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Ballico faces a moderate natural-hazard risk, led by drought
Households in Ballico have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2022. On expected storm and flood damage, Ballico sits above 56% of U.S. communities. 57% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from drought, followed by earthquakes at 21%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
3.5% of Ballico is conserved land
In 1 park or preserve, walkers have 4.1 miles of trail. Parks and preserves in Ballico: one, of 5 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. F D Ballico Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median rent in Ballico is lower than in most of California or the rest of the country
Homes in Ballico are typically worth about $777,000, down 4.4% in a year, close to the California typical home. The share of households in Ballico who own their home: 84%.
| Ballico | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $892 a month | $1,896 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 84% | 64% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Ballico
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Ballico
About 2 of every 100 Ballico residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
Every workday, about 271 people come to Ballico for work
Where Ballico’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Ballico
Census-designated place in California, United States
Ballico is a census-designated place in Merced County, California, United States. It is located 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Atwater at an elevation of 151 feet (46 m). The population was 347 at the 2020 United States census, down from 406 in 2010. Ballico is located in the northern part of Merced County, just north of where the Santa Fe railroad (the original San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad line) crosses the Merced River. Delhi is to the west, Denair to the northwest, and Cressey is across the river to the southeast. The ZIP Code is 95303. The community is inside area code 209. The name is a portmanteau of Ballantine Company, owner of the ranch on which the town was built.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.0 sq mi
- Elevation
- 151 ft
- ZIP code
- 95303
- Area code
- 209
Questions about Ballico
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Ballico, CA a good place to live?
Ballico has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.