Merced County, California

County of Merced
—  County  —
Seal
Location in the state of California
California's location in the United States
Country	United States
State	California
Region	San Joaquin Valley
Incorporated	1855
County seat	Merced
Area
• Total	1,971.87 sq mi (5,107.1 km2)
• Land	1,928.69 sq mi (4,995.3 km2)
• Water	43.18 sq mi (111.8 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	255,793
• Density	Bad rounding here130/sq mi (Bad rounding here50/km2)
Time zone	Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Website	co.merced.ca.us

Merced County (/mərˈsɛd/ mər-SED), is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, north of Fresno and southeast of San Jose. As of the 2010 census, the population was 255,793, up from 210,554 at the 2000 census. The county seat is Merced. The county is named after the Merced River.

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.

Between 1841 and 1844, during the era when California was a province of independent Mexico, four Mexican grants were made in what became Merced County: Orestimba, Panoche de San Juan y Los Carrisalitos, San Luis Gonzaga and 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 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,971.87 square miles (5,107.1 km²), of which 1,928.69 square miles (4,995.3 km²) (or 97.81%) is land and 43.18 square miles (111.8 km²) (or 2.19%) is water.

Cities and towns

Cities over 10,000 population

• Atwater
• Livingston
• Los Banos
• Merced

Incorporated cities under 10,000 population

• Dos Palos
• Gustine

Unincorporated communities

• 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
• Volta
• Winton

Adjacent counties

• San Benito County, California—southwest
• Santa Clara County, California—west
• Stanislaus County, California—north
• Mariposa County, California—east
• Madera County, California—southeast
• Fresno County, California—south
• Tuolumne County, California—northeast by a corner

National protected areas

• Merced National Wildlife Refuge
• San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

Transportation infrastructure

Major highways

• Interstate 5
• State Route 33
• State Route 59
• State Route 99
• State Route 140
• State Route 152
• 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 two miles (3 km) southwest of downtown Merced, provides passenger air service. General aviation airports in the county include Castle Airport, Gustine Airport, and Los Banos Municipal Airport.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	1,141		—
1870	2,807		146.0%
1880	5,656		101.5%
1890	8,085		42.9%
1900	9,215		14.0%
1910	15,148		64.4%
1920	24,579		62.3%
1930	36,748		49.5%
1940	46,988		27.9%
1950	69,780		48.5%
1960	90,446		29.6%
1970	104,629		15.7%
1980	134,560		28.6%
1990	178,403		32.6%
2000	210,554		18.0%
2010	255,793		21.5%
Est. 2012	262,305		2.5%

2010

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%).

Population reported at 2010 United States Census
The County	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Merced County	255,793	148,381	9,926	3,473	18,836	583	62,665	11,929	140,485
Incorporated city	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Atwater	28,168	18,410	1,225	364	1,416	76	5,300	1,377	14,808
Dos Palos	4,950	3,377	167	62	37	4	1,075	228	3,075
Gustine	5,520	3,875	73	54	95	8	1,191	224	2,769
Livingston	13,058	5,263	106	348	2,223	18	4,547	553	9,547
Los Banos	35,972	20,846	1,354	512	1,162	134	10,123	1,841	23,346
Merced	78,958	41,177	4,958	1,153	9,342	174	17,804	4,350	39,140
Census-designated place	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Ballico	406	237	2	3	11	2	128	23	210
Bear Creek	290	156	4	2	14	0	93	21	170
Cressey	394	253	1	3	15	1	95	26	195
Delhi	10,755	5,655	118	157	405	30	3,930	460	7,706
Dos Palos Y	323	225	1	8	1	0	82	6	197
El Nido	330	162	0	7	9	0	147	5	245
Franklin	6,149	3,455	273	77	931	12	1,072	329	3,250
Hilmar-Irwin	5,197	4,475	15	23	87	1	439	157	916
Le Grand	1,659	869	19	35	17	1	659	59	1,357
McSwain	4,171	3,196	56	34	282	9	422	172	1,081
Planada	4,584	1,681	22	23	46	1	2,725	86	4,347
Santa Nella	1,380	832	22	25	31	0	433	37	968
Snelling	231	206	0	3	6	0	13	3	33
South Dos Palos	1,620	809	135	21	36	10	552	57	1,262
Stevinson	313	228	4	0	0	0	73	8	133
Tuttle	103	77	6	0	6	0	9	5	31
University of California, Merced	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Volta	246	201	7	0	1	4	29	4	132
Winton	10,613	5,696	175	140	701	8	3,455	438	7,566
Unincorporated communities	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
All others not CDPs (combined)	40,403	27,020	1,183	419	1,962	90	8,269	1,460	18,001

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 people per square mile (42/km²). There were 68,373 housing units at an average density of 36 per square mile (14/km²). 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.

Politics

Merced County vote
by party in presidential elections

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2012	44.3% 27,581	53.0% 33,005	2.7% 1,636
2008	45.0% 28,704	53.3% 34,031	1.7% 1,073
2004	56.5% 32,773	42.3% 24,491	1.2% 696
2000	51.8% 26,102	45.1% 22,726	3.2% 1,590
1996	44.4% 20,847	46.4% 21,786	9.2% 4,305
1992	36.5% 17,981	40.9% 20,133	22.7% 11,170
1988	51.2% 21,717	47.4% 20,105	1.4% 592
1984	58.9% 24,997	40.1% 17,012	1.1% 468
1980	48.8% 18,043	42.9% 15,886	8.3% 3,067
1976	46.1% 14,842	51.7% 16,637	2.3% 729
1972	54.3% 17,737	42.6% 13,914	3.5% 997
1968	40.9% 11,595	51.0% 14,453	8.1% 2,301
1964	31.2% 8,814	68.7% 19,431	0.1% 24
1960	43.4% 11,990	56.2% 15,545	0.4% 111
1956	46.0% 11,430	53.8% 13,366	0.2% 56
1952	53.3% 13,512	45.9% 11,639	0.9% 219
1948	42.6% 7,721	55.0% 9,959	2.5% 444
1944	41.3% 6,518	58.3% 9,192	0.4% 69
1940	36.4% 6,101	62.6% 10,501	1.1% 182
1936	25.5% 3,230	72.7% 9,208	1.8% 230
1932	27.2% 2,920	67.1% 7,202	5.7% 612
1928	60.2% 4,644	38.5% 2,970	1.4% 104
1924	52.9% 3,573	10.5% 710	36.5% 2,466
1920	63.0% 3,457	28.0% 1,537	9.0% 494

Previously reliably Democratic, Merced is now considered a bellwether county. It has voted for the winning candidate for president in every election since 1972. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Barack Obama in 2008 and the last Republican was George W. Bush in 2004. This shift in favour of the Republican Party is a rarity given Californian politics' almost universal shift towards the Democratic Party in recent years. Since the opening of UC Merced, Merced County has tended to lean Democrat, with an overwhelming student population favoring the Democratic Party.

Merced is part of California's 18th congressional district, which is held by Democrat Dennis Cardoza. Merced was previously represented by Democratic representatives Gary Condit and Tony Coelho. In the state legislature Merced is in the 17th Assembly district, which is held by Democrat Cathleen Galgiani, and the 12th Senate district, which is held by Republican Anthony Cannella.

According to the California Secretary of State, as of October 20, 2008, there are 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 unincorporated areas of Merced County have Republican plurality registration advantages. All of the other cities and towns in the county have Democratic pluralities or majorities in voter registration.

Places of interest

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

See also

• List of California Historical Landmarks
• List of museums in the San Joaquin Valley
• List of school districts in Merced County, California
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Merced County, California

Further reading

• A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Merced, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa, California. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1892.

External links

• Merced County Official Website
• Merced County Arts Council, Inc