Merced County, California

Merced County, California
County
County of Merced
Images, from top down, left to right: The historic Merced Theatre, San Luis Reservoir, UC Merced, The B-29A Super Fortress exhibit at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater
Seal
Interactive map of Merced County
Location in the state of California
Coordinates: 37°11′N 120°43′W / 37.19°N 120.71°W / 37.19; -120.71
Country	United States
State	California
Region	San Joaquin Valley
Incorporated	April 19, 1855[1]
Named for	Merced River, originally El Río de Nuestra Señora de la Merced ("River of Our Lady of Mercy" in Spanish).
County seat	Merced
Largest city	Merced
Government
• Type	Council–CEO
• Body	Board of Supervisors
• Chair	Lloyd Pareira, Jr
• Vice Chair	Scott Silveira
• Board of Supervisors[2]	Supervisors Rodrigo Espinoza Josh Pedrozo Daron McDaniel Lloyd Pareira, Jr Scott Silveira
• Chief executive officer	Raul Lomeli Mendez
Area
• Total	1,979 sq mi (5,130 km2)
• Land	1,935 sq mi (5,010 km2)
• Water	44 sq mi (110 km2)
Highest elevation [3]	3,801 ft (1,159 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	281,202
• Density	140/sq mi (55/km2)
GDP [4]
• Total	$11.560 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (Pacific Daylight Time)
ZIP code	93620, 93635, 93661, 93665, 95301, 95303, 95312, 95315, 95317, 95322, 95324, 95333, 95334, 95388, 95340, 95341, 95343, 95344, 95348, 95365, 95369, 95374[5]
Area code	209
FIPS code	06-047
GNIS feature ID	277288
Congressional district	13th
Website	www.co.merced.ca.us

Merced County (/mərˈsɛd/ ^ⓘ mər-SED) is a county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California.

As of the 2020 census, the population was 281,202.^[6] The county seat is Merced.^[7] The county is named after the Merced River.

Merced County comprises the Merced, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Modesto-Merced, CA Combined Statistical Area. It is located north of Fresno County and Fresno, and southeast of Santa Clara County and San Jose.