Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Merced grades D− overall, 823rd among California's 841 graded towns, mostly because of safety and incomes. Its police reported 686 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 93% of U.S. towns. The median household income is $63K, and 24% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. Merced’s violent crime rate is 7 per 1,000 residents, against 2.9 in California’s towns and 1.6 across U.S. towns. Merced has 11 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Merced County Courthouse and Leggett House. The typical home is worth about $393K, 6 years of the Merced metro’s $66K median household income.
Where Merced beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Leggett House
Census counts: 1,446 in 1880, 86,333 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 5 maps from 1914 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Merced is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Merced, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Merced.
Merced has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings, but it has poverty well above the California rate.
Reported crimes fell from 3,288 to 3,063 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Merced is 24.1 per 1,000 residents. Merced reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 93% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Two of its 32 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weaver MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,073 | C+ |
| Merced HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,943 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
46% of Merced households own their home. The typical Merced home is worth about $393,000, down 0.8% in a year, 48% below the California typical home. Merced’s median rent is $1,393 a month.
| Merced | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 46% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,393 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 55% | 55% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Merced beats the California average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 30% of adults worry about having enough food in Merced.
| Merced | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 16% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 33% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 22% | 19% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Merced | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.2% | 6.4% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 12.7% | 7.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 147 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Merced.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Merced weather station records that about 106 days a year reach 90°, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 95.6°, hotter than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 38.4°.
Merced has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Merced | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 96°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 38°F | 41°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 3 of Merced’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Merced grew to 26,559 in 2023, 3,169 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Modesto (4%), Atwater (3%) and San Jose (3%).
| Merced | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 31% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.4% | 14% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
11 miles of trail in 34 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Fahrens Park, at 63 acres.
| Merced | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Court House Square Park | 0.6 mi | 8 |
| 2. Rahilly Park | 0.5 mi | 27 |
| 3. Applegate Park | 0.5 mi | 27 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
2 within 15 miles of the center of Merced
About 8 of every 100 Merced residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
2 colleges in town.
11 places in Merced on the National Register of Historic Places.
42 notable people were born in Merced.
City in California, United States
Merced ( mur-SED; from Spanish for 'Mercy', pronounced [meɾˈseð]) is a city in and the county seat of Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1, 1889, Merced is a charter city that operates under a council–manager government. It is named after the Merced River, which flows nearby. Merced, known as the "Gateway to Yosemite", is less than two hours by automobile from Yosemite National Park to the east and Monterey Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and multiple beaches to the west. The community is served by the passenger rail service Amtrak, a minor, heavily subsidized …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Merced.
Franklin reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Merced with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Merced grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #823 of 841 in California. It grades C for health, D for safety and C for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
42 notable people were born here, including Janet Leigh and Ray Allen.
