Merced County, California

History

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.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1979 sqmi, of which 1935 sqmi is land and 44 sqmi (2.2%) is water.

National protected areas

• Merced National Wildlife Refuge
• San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

| align-fn = center 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010 2020

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 281,202. The median age was 32.0 years. 28.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 11.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.7 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 37.2% White, 3.3% Black or African American, 2.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 7.4% Asian, 0.3% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 31.7% from some other race, and 17.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 61.8% of the population.

83.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 16.8% lived in rural areas.

There were 83,464 households in the county, of which 45.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 25.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 17.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 87,783 housing units, of which 4.9% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 54.7% were owner-occupied and 45.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 3.9%.

Racial and ethnic composition

2010 census

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%).

2000

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 /mi2. There were 68,373 housing units at an average density of 36 /mi2. 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.

Government and policing

County government

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.{{Cite web | access-date = January 5, 2015}}

Merced County Sheriff's Office

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

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.

State and federal representation

In the United States House of Representatives, Merced County is in .

In the California State Senate, Merced County is divided between , and . In the California State Assembly, the county is divided between , and .

Politics

Voter registration statistics

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

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 when it voted for Adlai Stevenson II instead of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1968 when it voted for Hubert Humphrey instead of Richard Nixon, and 2016 when it voted for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump. In 2024, Donald Trump won the county in a slim victory, continuing the county's bellwether county status.

Trump's win in Merced County made it one of ten counties in California to flip from Biden to Trump, as well as making Merced one of six counties to vote for the Republican presidential candidate for the first time in 20 years since George W. Bush in 2004. 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.

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 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.

Merced County voted in favor of Proposition 8 in 2008 (which banned same-sex marriage by constitutional amendment) and voted against Proposition 3 in 2024 (which repealed Proposition 8). The level of support in the county for retaining the ban shrank from 70.8% in 2008 to 50.2% in 2024.

Crime

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

Cities by population and crime rates

Economy

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

• Anberry Rehabilitation Hospital
• Atwater Elementary Teachers
• Bianchi & Sons Packing Co (produce)
• E & J Gallo Winery
• Foster Farms
• Golden Valley Health Center
• Hilmar Cheese Company
• J. Marchini & Son (farming)
• Liberty Packing Co
• Live Oak Farms (produce)
• Livingston District Office (education)
• Malibu Boats West Inc
• McLane Pacific (wholesale food services)
• Merced County Human Services
• Mercy Medical Center Merced
• Pacific Gas and Electric Company
• Quad/Graphics (printing)
• Sensient Dehydrated Flavors
• University of California, Merced
• Walmart
• Werner Co (ladders)
• Western Marketing & Sales (farming)
• Yosemite Wholesale Warehouse

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".

Transportation

Major highways

• [[File:I-5 (CA).svg|20px]] Interstate 5
• [[File:California 33.svg|20px]] State Route 33
• [[File:California 59.svg|20px]] State Route 59
• [[File:California 99.svg|20px]] State Route 99
• [[File:California 140.svg|25px]] State Route 140
• [[File:California 152.svg|25px]] State Route 152
• [[File:California 165.svg|25px]] State Route 165

Public transportation

• 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.

Airports

Merced Regional Airport, located 2 mi southwest of downtown Merced, provides passenger air service. General aviation airports in the county include Castle Airport, Gustine Airport, and Los Banos Municipal Airport.

Communities

Cities

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

[[Census-designated place]]s

• Ballico
• Bear Creek
• Cressey
• Delhi
• Dos Palos Y
• El Nido
• Franklin
• Hilmar-Irwin
• Le Grand
• McSwain
• Planada
• Santa Nella
• Snelling
• South Dos Palos
• Stevinson
• Tuttle
• University of California Merced
• Volta
• Winton

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Merced County.

† county seat

Education

School districts include:

K-12:

• Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified School District
• Delhi Unified School District
• Gustine Unified School District
• Hilmar Unified School District
• Los Banos Unified School District
• Turlock Unified School District

Secondary:

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

Elementary:

• Atwater Elementary School District
• Ballico-Cressey Elementary School District
• El Nido Elementary School District
• Le Grand Union Elementary School District
• Livingston Union School District
• McSwain Union Elementary School District
• Merced City Elementary School District
• Merced River Union Elementary School District
• Plainsburg Union Elementary School District
• Planada Elementary School District
• Snelling-Merced Falls Union Elementary School District
• Weaver Union Elementary School District
• Winton School District

University of California Merced is in the county.

Places of interest

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

Notes

References

References

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23. included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census
24. included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census
25. not an option in the 1980 Census
26. not an option in the 1990 Census
27. {{USCensus2010CA
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29. Oppenheim, Jamie. "[http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/03/29/1366628/hmong-youth-not-preserving-traditions.html Hmong youth not preserving traditions, professor says] {{webarchive. link. (June 8, 2010 ." Monday March 29, 2010. Retrieved on September 20, 2010.)
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38. Only larceny-theft cases involving property over $400 in value are reported as property crimes.
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