Merced, CA
Merced, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Merced, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Merced ranks 285th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 245th for income. A household earns $64,980 a year while median rent runs $1,462/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 2% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (199th of 300), while education is the soft spot (299th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 200th and home prices 216th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Merced, your take-home is worth about $59,320 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 245th of 300↑6.2%$64,980
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 199th of 30098 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $66,121
- Per-capita income
- $27,218
- Full-time pay
- $34,584
Housing
- Median rent
- 200th of 300↑33.3%$1,462/mo
- Home value
- 216th of 300↑40.6%$397,800
- Property tax
- $2,674/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 293rd of 3008.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 299th of 30015.7%
- Avg commute
- 287th of 30031.8 min
People
- Population
- 296,774
- Population change
- +6.9%
- Median age
- 32.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 25.5%
- Broadband
- 90.9%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 248th of 30052
- Natural-hazard loss
- 234th of 300$18/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 296th of 30029.8%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 18.3%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- —
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Commute
- – Air quality
- – Hazard safety
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — merced 23 wsw.
What jobs pay in Merced
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $270,880
- IT managers
- $167,150
- Pharmacists
- $154,870
- Lawyers
- $139,010
- Financial managers
- $134,170
- Software developers
- $132,120
- Registered nurses
- $131,620
- Civil engineers
- $102,930
- Elementary school teachers
- $100,120
- Secondary school teachers
- $99,600
- General & operations managers
- $94,990
- Police officers
- $82,540
- Accountants & auditors
- $80,420
- Electricians
- $76,120
- Carpenters
- $74,760
- Plumbers
- $60,230
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $56,700
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $55,630
- Construction laborers
- $54,440
- Janitors
- $45,920
- Customer service reps
- $45,670
- Retail salespersons
- $37,740
- Cashiers
- $35,340
- Waiters & waitresses
- $34,320
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Merced metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in California are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Washington626
- Nevada317
- Texas142
- Oklahoma113
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Merced
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Merced metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Merced metro?
- Median gross rent across the Merced, CA Metro Area is $1,462 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Merced.
- What is the median household income in the Merced metro?
- A typical household in the Merced, CA Metro Area earns $64,980 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Merced expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Merced, CA Metro Area runs about 2% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Merced metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $66,121 (versus its face value of $64,980). CityLedger rates the Merced, CA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Merced metro?
- The median home value across the Merced, CA Metro Area is $397,800 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Merced metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Merced, CA Metro Area is 8.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).