County profile
Merced County, CA
United States · GDP 2024
#355 of 3,127 US counties by GDPtop-quartile growthmore diversified than 71% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$13.3B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+9.2%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
49,545
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
3,592
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$53.1k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
297,260
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
9.2%
Median HH income
$65.5k±$2.3k
Bachelor's degree+
15.3%±0.7%
Poverty rate
19.1%±1.2%
Business applications
2,212 · 2025
Retail establishments
550
18.5/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
No public companies loaded for this state yet — universe expands with the full ingest.
HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).
Industry mix · employment
Manufacturing24%
Retail trade23%
Health care20%
Food & accommodation17%
Construction9%
Transportation7%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
297,260
residents · 2025 · +5.1% since 2020
Income per capita $51.5k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+1,932
International migration+4,540
Natural change+7,910
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$9.5B2019
$9.6B2020
$10.6B2021
$11.8B2022
$12.2B2023
$13.3B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$391.8k±$5.6k
Median gross rent
$1.3k/mo±$27/mo
Vacancy rate
5.3%±0.6%
Affordability
7.4× wages
Residential permits
$246.7M
780 units · 2.6/1k pop
FEMA risk score
96.9
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.5k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Drought 100Earthquake 99Heat wave 98
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
6952016
7612017
8272018
8692019
8982020
10532021
12232022
12222023
12982024
13092025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↓ -23% since 20211,0172021
7302022
4062023
5202024
7802025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
26.9 km
I-5
Nearest freight rail
18.5 km
CFNR
Nearest port
99.2 km
COLBERG EDISON WHARF
Nearest commercial airport
20.8 km
MERCED YOSEMITE RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$53.1k
avg. annual pay · +20% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Merced?
Merced's economy produced $13.3B in 2024, growing 9.2% year over year — faster than most US counties. Its largest employment sector is manufacturing.
GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.