Best PlacesMerced County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Merced County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Merced County ranks 2,495th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on civic engagement and education levels. It does better on few empty homes, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Merced County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Merced County
The parts of Merced County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Buhach
It is quieter, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Delhi & Hilmar
Commutes are shorter, though biking is worse.
Merced
Transit reaches more jobs, though prices have run up more.
Los Banos
More households have young kids, though disaster risk is higher.
Atwater, Livingston & Winton
Scores close to Los Banos, except that schools score lower here.
Dos Palos
Fewer homes sit empty, though incomes run lower.
Gustine
Crime runs higher and health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Merced County run from about the 2nd to the 88th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Merced County's strengths and weaknesses
Merced County ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Few empty homes, cell coverage, and big-city access carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: civic engagement, education levels, and thin health care access all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Merced County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of counties
- TransitBetter than 92% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 146 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of counties
Where Merced County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Merced County
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Merced County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,453, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Merced County's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Merced County
Merced County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Merced County.
Who works in Merced County, and how
Work in Merced County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Merced County
Merced County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Merced County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Merced County growing, and who is moving in?
Merced County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Modesto, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Merced County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Merced County, month by month
Merced County sees roughly 146 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 100 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 61° | 45° |
| July | 100° | 81° | 62° |
| October | 83° | 65° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Merced County
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Merced County
Schools across Merced County average a D+, better than 18% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Willow Grove ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Mcswain ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Plainsburg Union ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Turlock Junior HighC · 35% proficient
- Winton MiddleC− · 30% proficient
- Weaver MiddleD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Hilmar HighB− · 43% proficient
- El Capitan HighC · 33% proficient
- Turlock HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Merced County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Merced County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Merced County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Merced County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Merced County
Is Merced County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Merced County ranks 2,495th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, cell coverage, and big-city access, and lowest on civic engagement and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Merced County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $407,571. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $71,453 median income, cost of living beats 25% of counties.
Is Merced County safe?
Merced County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $467 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Merced County?
July highs average about 100 degrees, and January highs near 60 with lows near 37. That works out to about 146 pleasant days a year, more than 91% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Merced County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Buhach, Delhi & Hilmar, and Merced. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Merced County good for families?
Schools beat 18% of counties, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $979 a month.
Is Merced County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 25% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 68% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Merced County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Merced County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Merced County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Merced County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Merced County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Merced County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Merced County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Merced County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Merced County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.