County Maps US

Merced County, California

A county in California, ranked 23 of 58 by population.

CountyFIPS 06047

Within California
Merced County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Merced, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
297,260
+14,365 (+5.1%) since 2020
Land area
1,938
square miles. A further 2.1% of the total area is water
Population density
153
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Merced
Seat of county government.
Established
1855
170 years ago
Largest city
Merced city
Population 99,724.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Merced County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Merced County, California from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 755 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Merced County ranks

Position among the 58 counties of California, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn CaliforniaNationally
Population297,26023rd of 58250th of 3,144
Land area1,938 sq mi25th of 58293rd of 3,144
Population density153 per sq mi24th of 58690th of 3,144
Median household income$65,51050th of 581,592nd of 3,143

Full data for Merced County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population297,260Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020282,895Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?282,457Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area1,938 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area40.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area1,979 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?153 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$65,510American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$391,800American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age31.8American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households86,055American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units90,872American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+1,591
3,625 births, 2,034 deaths
Net migration
-1,165
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Merced County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Stanislaus CountyCalifornia64 mi557,719
Mariposa CountyCalifornia39 mi16,918
Fresno CountyCalifornia33 mi1,035,456
Madera CountyCalifornia32 mi167,927
San Benito CountyCalifornia27 mi70,082
Santa Clara CountyCalifornia19 mi1,914,391

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 58 counties of California

Open the interactive California county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.