Best PlacesMerced Falls, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Merced Falls, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Merced Falls ranks 44,190th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Merced Falls
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.
Merced Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Merced Falls ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 142 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$85,449 median, better than 72% of towns
Where Merced Falls ranks low
- Short commute50.4 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Merced Falls
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Merced Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $85,449; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Falls' effective rate of 0.41%, 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 8 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 Falls
Merced Falls runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Merced Falls.
Who works in Merced Falls, and how
Work in Merced Falls centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Merced Falls
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Merced Falls.
What the weather is like in Merced Falls, month by month
Merced Falls sees roughly 142 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 100 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 50° | 41° |
| April | 77° | 61° | 48° |
| July | 100° | 83° | 65° |
| October | 83° | 66° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Merced Falls
The nearest airport, Merced Yosemite Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Merced Falls
Schools across Merced Falls average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Snelling-merced Falls ElementaryC · 34% proficient
- Lake Don Pedro ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Planada ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cesar E. Chavez MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- El Capitan HighC · 33% proficient
- Don Pedro HighD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Merced Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Merced Falls 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 Falls against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Merced Falls
Is Merced Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Merced Falls ranks 44,190th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, the weather, and low property taxes, and lowest on long commutes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Merced Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $376,618. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $85,449 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Merced Falls safe?
Merced Falls is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $500 per resident a year.
Compare Merced Falls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Merced Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Merced Falls 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 Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Merced Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Merced Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Merced Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Merced Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Merced Falls 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.
- 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.