Merced County (/mərˈsɛd/ mər-SED) is a county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California.

As of the 2020 census, the population was 281,202. The county seat is Merced. The county is named after the Merced River.

Merced County comprises the Merced, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Modesto-Merced, CA Combined Statistical Area. It is located north of Fresno County and Fresno, and southeast of Santa Clara County and San Jose.

The county derives its name from the Merced River, or El Río de Nuestra Señora de la Merced (River of Our Lady of Mercy), named in 1806 by an expedition headed by Gabriel Moraga, which came upon it at the end of a hot dusty ride on the El Camino Viejo across the San Joaquin Valley in Spanish colonial Las Californias Province.

Between 1841 and 1844, during the period when Alta California was a territory of independent Mexico, four Mexican land grants were made in what became Merced County: Rancho Orestimba y Las Garzas, Rancho Panoche de San Juan y Los Carrisolitos, Rancho San Luis Gonzaga, and Rancho Sanjon de Santa Rita

Merced County was formed in 1855 from parts of Mariposa County. Parts of its territory were given to Fresno County in 1856.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,979 square miles (5,130 km), of which 1,935 square miles (5,010 km) is land and 44 square miles (110 km) (2.2%) is water.

• Merced National Wildlife Refuge
• San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1860	1,141		—
1870	2,807		146.0%
1880	5,656		101.5%
1890	8,085		42.9%
1900	9,215		14.0%
1910	15,148		64.4%
1920	24,579		62.3%
1930	36,748		49.5%
1940	46,988		27.9%
1950	69,780		48.5%
1960	90,446		29.6%
1970	104,629		15.7%
1980	134,560		28.6%
1990	178,403		32.6%
2000	210,554		18.0%
2010	255,793		21.5%
2020	281,202		9.9%
2023 (est.)	291,920		3.8%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010 2020

Merced County, California – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	85,585	81,599	68,729	40.65%	31.90%	24.44%
Black or African American alone (NH)	7,594	8,785	8,191	3.61%	3.43%	2.91%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	1,115	1,126	1,164	0.53%	0.44%	0.41%
Asian alone (NH)	14,041	18,183	19,824	6.67%	7.11%	7.05%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	281	476	617	0.13%	0.19%	0.22%
Other Race alone (NH)	410	439	1,242	0.19%	0.17%	0.44%
Mixed Race or Multiracial (NH)	6,062	4,700	7,578	2.88%	1.84%	2.69%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	95,466	140,485	173,857	45.34%	54.92%	61.83%
Total	210,554	255,793	281,202	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

Population, race, and income
Total population	253,606
White	170,229	67.1%
Black or African American	9,837	3.9%
American Indian or Alaska Native	2,617	1.0%
Asian	18,904	7.5%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	517	0.2%
Some other race	43,893	17.3%
Two or more races	7,609	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	137,974	54.4%
Per capita income	$18,304
Median household income	$43,945
Median family income	$48,429

Places by population and race
Place	Type	Population	White	Other	Asian	Black or African American	Native American	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Atwater	City	27,922	66.0%	21.6%	7.0%	4.3%	1.1%	49.2%
Ballico	CDP	384	72.1%	24.7%	1.6%	0.0%	1.6%	49.2%
Bear Creek	CDP	188	44.7%	55.3%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	89.4%
Cressey	CDP	614	57.0%	42.3%	0.7%	0.0%	0.0%	63.7%
Delhi	CDP	9,892	59.0%	28.9%	7.1%	2.2%	2.8%	67.8%
Dos Palos	City	4,940	79.6%	18.1%	0.0%	2.0%	0.3%	66.5%
Dos Palos Y	CDP	207	77.3%	22.7%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	65.2%
El Nido	CDP	297	44.1%	55.9%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	72.4%
Franklin	CDP	5,766	71.4%	14.8%	6.6%	2.5%	4.7%	56.4%
Gustine	City	5,484	85.8%	13.2%	0.3%	0.0%	0.6%	56.1%
Hilmar-Irwin	CDP	5,224	95.1%	3.6%	1.0%	0.2%	0.0%	9.2%
Le Grand	CDP	1,893	51.8%	47.4%	0.0%	0.0%	0.8%	88.4%
Livingston	City	12,899	48.0%	32.8%	17.5%	0.9%	0.9%	71.5%
Los Banos	City	35,252	81.0%	11.3%	3.3%	3.9%	0.5%	67.4%
McSwain	CDP	4,041	82.8%	8.8%	6.7%	0.3%	1.4%	20.6%
Merced	City	78,111	56.1%	24.1%	11.4%	6.8%	1.7%	49.6%
Planada	CDP	4,366	52.3%	44.2%	1.2%	1.6%	0.8%	96.2%
Santa Nella	CDP	1,292	84.1%	12.0%	0.0%	3.9%	0.0%	70.4%
Snelling	CDP	97	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	3.1%
South Dos Palos	CDP	2,144	88.9%	10.0%	0.0%	1.1%	0.0%	94.1%
Stevinson	CDP	132	53.8%	46.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	46.2%
Tuttle	CDP	21	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
University of California, Merced	CDP	0	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Volta	CDP	126	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	55.6%
Winton	CDP	11,742	61.2%	28.4%	8.2%	1.6%	0.7%	74.5%

The 2010 United States Census reported that Merced County had a population of 255,793. The racial makeup of Merced County was 148,381 (58.0%) White, 9,926 (3.9%) African American, 3,473 (1.4%) Native American, 18,836 (7.4%) Asian, 583 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 62,665 (24.5%) from other races, and 11,929 (4.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 140,485 persons (54.9%).

Population reported at 2010 United States Census
The County	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Merced County	255,793	148,381	9,926	3,473	18,836	583	62,665	11,929	140,485
Incorporated city	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Atwater	28,168	18,410	1,225	364	1,416	76	5,300	1,377	14,808
Dos Palos	4,950	3,377	167	62	37	4	1,075	228	3,075
Gustine	5,520	3,875	73	54	95	8	1,191	224	2,769
Livingston	13,058	5,263	106	348	2,223	18	4,547	553	9,547
Los Banos	35,972	20,846	1,354	512	1,162	134	10,123	1,841	23,346
Merced	78,958	41,177	4,958	1,153	9,342	174	17,804	4,350	39,140
Census-designated place	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Ballico	406	237	2	3	11	2	128	23	210
Bear Creek	290	156	4	2	14	0	93	21	170
Cressey	394	253	1	3	15	1	95	26	195
Delhi	10,755	5,655	118	157	405	30	3,930	460	7,706
Dos Palos Y	323	225	1	8	1	0	82	6	197
El Nido	330	162	0	7	9	0	147	5	245
Franklin	6,149	3,455	273	77	931	12	1,072	329	3,250
Hilmar-Irwin	5,197	4,475	15	23	87	1	439	157	916
Le Grand	1,659	869	19	35	17	1	659	59	1,357
McSwain	4,171	3,196	56	34	282	9	422	172	1,081
Planada	4,584	1,681	22	23	46	1	2,725	86	4,347
Santa Nella	1,380	832	22	25	31	0	433	37	968
Snelling	231	206	0	3	6	0	13	3	33
South Dos Palos	1,620	809	135	21	36	10	552	57	1,262
Stevinson	313	228	4	0	0	0	73	8	133
Tuttle	103	77	6	0	6	0	9	5	31
University of California, Merced	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Volta	246	201	7	0	1	4	29	4	132
Winton	10,613	5,696	175	140	701	8	3,455	438	7,566
Other unincorporated areas	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
All others not CDPs (combined)	40,403	27,020	1,183	419	1,962	90	8,269	1,460	18,001

As of the census of 2000, there were 210,554 people, 63,815 households, and 49,775 families residing in the county. The population density was 109 people per square mile (42 people/km). There were 68,373 housing units at an average density of 36 units per square mile (14 units/km). The racial makeup of the county was 56.2% White, 3.8% Black or African American, 1.2% Native American, 6.8% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 26.1% from other races, and 5.7% from two or more races. 45.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 6.6% were of Portuguese and 6.0% German ancestry according to Census 2000. 55.1% spoke English, 35.3% Spanish, 3.2% Hmong, 2.9% Portuguese and 1.0% Punjabi as their first language.

There were 63,815 households, out of which 45.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.0% were non-families. 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.25 and the average family size was 3.69.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 34.5% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 99.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,532, and the median income for a family was $38,009. Males had a median income of $31,721 versus $23,911 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,257. About 16.9% of families and 21.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.4% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2008, according to the Lao Family Community, a nonprofit organization, about 8,000 Hmong lived in Merced County.

Merced County is a California Constitution defined general law county and is governed by an elected Board of Supervisors. The Board consists of five members, elected by districts, who serve four-year staggered terms.

The Merced County Sheriff's Office provides court protection, jail administration, and coroner service for the entire county. It provides patrol, detective, and other police services for the unincorporated parts of the county. The main sheriff station and offices are at Merced. There are two sheriff's substations. A Grand Jury report in 2010 stated that the Sheriff processed 12,746 average jail bookings per year with an average daily jail population of 1,123.

Municipal police departments in the county are: Merced, population 83,000; Los Banos, population 38,000; Atwater, population 30,000; Livingston, population 13,000; Gustine, population 6,000; Dos Palos, population 5,500.

In the United States House of Representatives, Merced County is in California's 13th congressional district, represented by Republican John Duarte.

In the California State Legislature, Merced County is in the 27th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Esmeralda Soria, and the 14th Senate District, represented by Democrat Anna Caballero.

Population and registered voters
Total population	253,606
Registered voters	98,874	39.0%
Democratic	43,981	44.5%
Republican	32,767	33.1%
Democratic–Republican spread	+11,214	+11.4%
Independent	3,016	3.1%
Green	568	0.6%
Libertarian	483	0.5%
Peace and Freedom	318	0.3%
Americans Elect	2	0.0%
Other	180	0.2%
No party preference	17,559	17.8%

Cities by population and voter registration
City	Population	Registered voters	Democratic	Republican	D–R spread	Other	No party preference
Atwater	27,922	41.0%	39.4%	37.4%	+2.0%	8.2%	18.3%
Dos Palos	4,940	38.0%	44.4%	35.0%	+9.4%	9.9%	14.9%
Gustine	5,484	38.3%	48.2%	30.3%	+17.9%	7.7%	17.0%
Livingston	12,899	34.6%	62.2%	15.9%	+46.3%	4.9%	18.9%
Los Banos	35,252	37.6%	50.1%	27.6%	+22.5%	7.8%	17.7%
Merced	78,111	41.0%	46.4%	30.2%	+16.2%	8.2%	18.3%

Merced County voted for the winning candidate for president in every election from 1972 to 2012, before voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Democrat Barack Obama won a majority in the county in both 2008 and 2012. Before that, Republican George W. Bush won a majority in the county in both 2000 and 2004.

United States presidential election results for Merced County, California

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	39,397	43.30%	48,991	53.84%	2,605	2.86%
2016	28,725	40.58%	37,317	52.72%	4,747	6.71%
2012	27,581	44.33%	33,005	53.04%	1,636	2.63%
2008	28,704	44.81%	34,031	53.13%	1,316	2.05%
2004	32,773	56.54%	24,491	42.26%	696	1.20%
2000	26,102	51.77%	22,726	45.08%	1,590	3.15%
1996	20,847	44.41%	21,786	46.41%	4,305	9.17%
1992	17,981	36.48%	20,133	40.85%	11,170	22.66%
1988	21,717	51.20%	20,105	47.40%	592	1.40%
1984	24,997	58.85%	17,012	40.05%	468	1.10%
1980	18,043	48.77%	15,886	42.94%	3,067	8.29%
1976	14,842	46.08%	16,637	51.65%	729	2.26%
1972	17,737	54.33%	13,914	42.62%	997	3.05%
1968	11,595	40.90%	14,453	50.98%	2,301	8.12%
1964	8,814	31.18%	19,431	68.74%	24	0.08%
1960	11,990	43.37%	15,545	56.23%	111	0.40%
1956	11,430	45.99%	13,366	53.78%	56	0.23%
1952	13,512	53.26%	11,639	45.88%	219	0.86%
1948	7,721	42.60%	9,959	54.95%	444	2.45%
1944	6,518	41.31%	9,192	58.25%	69	0.44%
1940	6,101	36.35%	10,501	62.57%	182	1.08%
1936	3,230	25.50%	9,208	72.69%	230	1.82%
1932	2,920	27.20%	7,202	67.10%	612	5.70%
1928	4,644	60.17%	2,970	38.48%	104	1.35%
1924	3,573	52.94%	710	10.52%	2,466	36.54%
1920	3,457	62.99%	1,537	28.01%	494	9.00%
1916	2,132	40.72%	2,637	50.36%	467	8.92%
1912	10	0.24%	1,978	46.78%	2,240	52.98%
1908	1,107	44.58%	1,100	44.30%	276	11.12%
1904	972	49.07%	863	43.56%	146	7.37%
1900	811	41.59%	1,081	55.44%	58	2.97%
1896	653	36.24%	1,117	61.99%	32	1.78%
1892	782	39.66%	995	50.46%	195	9.89%
1888	773	43.04%	972	54.12%	51	2.84%
1884	809	45.47%	953	53.57%	17	0.96%
1880	516	41.08%	736	58.60%	4	0.32%

According to the California Secretary of State, as of October 20, 2008, there were 97,179 registered voters in Merced County. Of those, 44,704 (46.0%) are registered Democratic, 35,955 (37.0%) are registered Republican, 3,090 (3.2%) are registered with other political parties, and 13,430 (13.8%) declined to state a political party. Atwater and the county's unincorporated areas have Republican plurality registration advantages. All of the other cities and towns in the county have Democratic pluralities or majorities in voter registration.

Merced County has been somewhat of a bellwether county for presidential elections. Since 1916, it has voted for the winner in each election except in 1956, 1968, and 2016. Merced County has seen a rightward tilt in recent years, voting "Yes" in the 2021 gubernatorial recall election despite voting for Governor Gavin Newsom by a margin of 4% in 2018. The county then voted for Republican nominee Brian Dahle in 2022 over Newsom, as well as for all Republican nominees for statewide office.

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Population and crime rates
Population	253,606
Violent crime	1,658	6.54
Homicide	26	0.10
Forcible rape	78	0.31
Robbery	276	1.09
Aggravated assault	1,278	5.04
Property crime	4,390	17.31
Burglary	2,318	9.14
Larceny-theft	5,089	20.07
Motor vehicle theft	903	3.56
Arson	90	0.35

Cities by population and crime rates
City	Population	Violent crimes	Violent crime rate per 1,000 persons	Property crimes	Property crime rate per 1,000 persons
Atwater	28,891	180	6.23	1,400	48.46
Dos Palos	5,079	59	11.62	162	31.90
Gustine	5,663	24	4.24	120	21.19
Livingston	13,394	74	5.52	306	22.85
Los Banos	36,897	142	3.85	1,210	32.79
Merced	80,976	810	10.00	4,111	50.77

According to America's Labor Market Information System 2014 report, the companies with the largest employment in Merced are, in alphabetical order:

Merced County grows 90% of California's sweet potato crop, due in part to the efforts of John Buttencourt Avila, called "the father of the sweet potato industry".

• Interstate 5
• State Route 33
• State Route 59
• State Route 99
• State Route 140
• State Route 152
• State Route 165

• Merced County Transit, or "The Bus", provides local service in Merced as well as connecting service between most cities in Merced County.
• The University of California, Merced, operates its own transit system, Cat Tracks. This system connects with Merced County Transit.
• Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System, or YARTS, connects Merced with Yosemite National Park.
• Greyhound buses and Amtrak trains provide long-distance intercity service.

Merced Regional Airport, located two miles (3.2 km) southwest of downtown Merced, provides passenger air service. General aviation airports in the county include Castle Airport, Gustine Airport, and Los Banos Municipal Airport.

• Atwater
• Dos Palos
• Gustine
• Livingston
• Los Banos
• Merced (county seat)

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Merced County.

† county seat

Rank	City/Town/etc.	Municipal type	Population (2010 Census)	Population (2018 CA Department of Finance)
1	† Merced	City	78,958	86,750
2	Los Banos	City	35,972	40,986
3	Atwater	City	28,168	31,235
4	Livingston	City	13,058	14,328
5	Delhi	CDP	10,755
6	Winton	CDP	10,613
7	Franklin-Beachwood	CDP	6,149
8	Gustine	City	5,520	5,874
9	Hilmar-Irwin	CDP	5,197
10	Dos Palos	City	4,950	5,679
11	Planada	CDP	4,584
12	McSwain	CDP	4,171
13	Le Grand	CDP	1,659
14	South Dos Palos	CDP	1,620
15	Santa Nella	CDP	1,380
16	Ballico	CDP	406
17	Cressey	CDP	394
18	El Nido	CDP	330
19	Dos Palos Y	CDP	323
20	Stevinson	CDP	313
21	Bear Creek	CDP	290
22	Volta	CDP	246
23	Snelling	CDP	231
24	Tuttle	CDP	103

School districts include:

K-12:

Secondary:

• Le Grand Union High School District
• Merced Union High School District

Elementary:

University of California Merced is in the county.

The former Castle Air Force Base and the United States Penitentiary, Atwater are located in an unincorporated area near Atwater.

• List of California Historical Landmarks
• List of museums in the San Joaquin Valley
• List of school districts in Merced County, California
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Merced County, California

• A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Merced, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa, California. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1892.

• Official website