Jury Pool Profile

Merced County, California

Republican +4 (2024)

Population: 285,597
Median household income: $65,044
Unemployment: 10.1%

Who sits on a jury?

Race & ethnicity

White alone 102,852 36.0%
Black or African American alone 8,250 2.9%
Asian alone 20,391 7.1%
American Indian / Alaska Native alone 4,120 1.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander alone 887 0.3%
Some other race alone 114,030 39.9%
Two or more races 35,067 12.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 178,961 62.7%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Age distribution

Median age 31.8

Under 18 83,242 29.1%
18–24 30,869 10.8%
25–44 78,224 27.4%
45–64 60,194 21.1%
65 and over 33,068 11.6%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Economic context

Local economy

Unemployment (12-mo): 10.1%; +4.68 pp vs. state
County GDP: $13.3B; 0.33% of state
Avg. annual pay: $54,952
Establishments: 8,584

U.S. BLS 2026M02 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2024

Top employment sectors

Average annual employment by supersector

Education & health services 25,108 29.6%
Trade, transportation & utilities 14,438 17.0%
Natural resources & mining 13,400 15.8%
Manufacturing 9,221 10.9%
Leisure & hospitality 6,939 8.2%
Public administration 4,437 5.2%
Professional & business services 3,720 4.4%
Construction 3,434 4.0%
Other services 2,215 2.6%
Financial activities 1,722 2.0%
Information 316 0.4%
Unclassified 1 0.0%

BLS QCEW 2024

Housing

Home ownership: 53.3%
Median gross rent: $1,284
Owner-occupied: 45,097
Renter-occupied: 39,508

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Political composition

Presidential results

2024 presidential · 86,392 votes cast

Republican 43,955 50.9%
Democratic 40,190 46.5%
Other / third-party 2,247 2.6%

Election results 2024

Languages, households, faith & health

Languages spoken at home

47.1% speak only English at home

Spanish 117,933 44.5%
Other Indo-European 10,924 4.1%
Other Asian/Pacific 7,334 2.8%
Tagalog 1,089 0.4%
Chinese 695 0.3%
Arabic 522 0.2%
Vietnamese 467 0.2%
German 437 0.2%
Other 263 0.1%
Korean 239 0.1%
French (incl. Cajun) 217 0.1%
Slavic languages 117 0.0%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Household composition

Households: 84,605
Family households: 63,278; 74.8% of households
Married w/ children: 39,778
Single-mother households: 8,708
Veterans: 8,005; 4% of civilians 18+

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Religious composition

45.1% overall adherence rate

Catholic 95,362 33.9%
Evangelical Protestant 19,813 7.0%
Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 7,857 2.8%
Black Protestant 2,226 0.8%
Mainline Protestant 1,611 0.6%
Orthodox 35 0.0%

US Religion Census 2020

Health & education

Health insured: 91.0%
With a disability: 12.8%
Bachelor's or higher: 14.8%

U.S. Census ACS 2023

Court infrastructure

Trial court: Merced County Superior Court
Judges: 16 (Superior Court judges + commissioners; vintage 2026 courts.ca.gov per-court rosters and Judicial Council Court Statistics Report. Counts for the smallest rural counties (Alpine, Sierra, Mono, Modoc, Trinity, Mariposa, Colusa) are at or near the statutory authorized-judgeship floor per Cal. Gov. Code § 69590 et seq.)
Court seats: Merced

Court reference

Traffic safety context

California statewide totals, 2023 — not county-specific

Traffic fatalities: 59; 29.16 per 100k drivers
Fatal crashes: 52

NHTSA FARS 2023