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Welcome to Merced County ...

Time Zone: Merced County lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time.

The community of Merced is the Seat for Merced County.

Merced County was founded in 1855 and was created by taking area from Mariposa County.

From the Census Estimates for 2019, <1> Merced had a population of 277,680 people. This is an increase of 8.16% since the last Census (which gave a population of 256,721 people in 2010).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Merced represented 0.69% of the total population of California.

Below are some of the communities located in Merced County:

  • Atwater
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwater
    • Atwater is located in Merced County (CA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 30,296 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Atwater <2>
  • Dos Palos
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Gustine
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gustine
    • Gustine is located in Merced County (CA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,709 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gustine <2>
  • Livingston
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Los Banos
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Merced
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merced
    • Merced is located in Merced County (CA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 88,235 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Merced <2>

Websites of Interest ...

Footnotes ...

<1>On a yearly basis, the US Census Bureau creates an estimate of the county's population. Keep in mind that this is an estimate and not an actual count. The last physical count was the 2010 Census and the next count will be for the 2020 Census.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
 

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This page was last modified/updated: 23 Mar 2025