Merced, CA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Merced, CA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Merced, CA moved from $45,930 in May 2024 to $47,220 in May 2025 (+2.8%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Merced, CA sits -0.3 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Fast Food and Counter Workers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Merced, CA
Fast Food and Counter Workers publishes $38,200 here versus $31,200 nationally (+22.4%; 2,500metro-area jobs). Next is Cashiers at $35,340 locally versus $32,880 nationally (+7.5%).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$38,200 in Merced, CA sits 22.4% above the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (2,500 published local jobs).
- Cashiers$35,340 in Merced, CA sits 7.5% above the national Cashiers median of $32,880 (2,250 published local jobs).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$34,320 in Merced, CA sits 4.1% below the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (4,990 published local jobs).
- Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse$36,350 in Merced, CA sits 1.9% above the national Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse median of $35,660 (3,820 published local jobs).
Fast Food and Counter Workers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Merced, CA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 32900 · Merced, CA $60K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-MID · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-MOST
- MEAN-MID #188/528
- RPP-MID 98.3
- OCC-MID 272 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $273K
- EMP-MIX Registered N…
- TREND-INLINE -0.3 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Yakima, WA
- BOOK-MOST 272 rows · May 2025
Read with Yakima, WA ($35 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Merced, CA
Employment scale inside Merced, CA's top-pay list
Registered Nurses and Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary lead published employment inside Merced, CA's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Registered Nurses 1,050 jobs · $131,620
- 2. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 260 jobs · $157,180
- 3. Financial Managers 210 jobs · $134,170
- 4. Managers, All Other 150 jobs · $128,190
- 5. Industrial Production Managers 130 jobs · $123,590
- 6. Pharmacists 120 jobs · $154,870
- 7. Lawyers 120 jobs · $139,010
- 8. Chief Executives 100 jobs · $181,660
- 9. Nurse Practitioners 100 jobs · $158,750
- 10. First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives 100 jobs · $121,720
- 11. Construction Managers 100 jobs · $119,150
- 12. Physicians, All Other 90 jobs · $273,110
- 13. School Psychologists 90 jobs · $133,230
- 14. Computer and Information Systems Managers 80 jobs · $167,150
- 15. Software Developers 80 jobs · $132,120
- 16. Facilities Managers 80 jobs · $121,730
- 17. Human Resources Managers 70 jobs · $153,210
- 18. Physical Therapists 60 jobs · $126,000
Occupations Tracked
272
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$60,468
employment-weighted, 272 complete rows
Top Salary
$273,110
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
98.3
2% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Merced, CA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $273,110 |
| 2 | Family Medicine Physicians | $270,880 |
| 3 | Chief Executives | $181,660 |
| 4 | Dentists, General | $170,200 |
| 5 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $167,150 |
| 6 | Education Administrators, Postsecondary | $165,620 |
| 7 | Physician Assistants | $164,080 |
| 8 | Nurse Practitioners | $158,750 |
| 9 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $157,180 |
| 10 | Pharmacists | $154,870 |
| 11 | Human Resources Managers | $153,210 |
| 12 | Marketing Managers | $148,670 |
| 13 | Lawyers | $139,010 |
| 14 | Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary | $138,890 |
| 15 | Financial Managers | $134,170 |
| 16 | School Psychologists | $133,230 |
| 17 | Software Developers | $132,120 |
| 18 | Registered Nurses | $131,620 |
| 19 | Education Administrators, All Other | $128,210 |
| 20 | Managers, All Other | $128,190 |
| 21 | Physical Therapists | $126,000 |
| 22 | Industrial Production Managers | $123,590 |
| 23 | Facilities Managers | $121,730 |
| 24 | First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives | $121,720 |
| 25 | Construction Managers | $119,150 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Merced, CA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Packers and Packagers, Hand | $34,320 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $34,320 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $34,320 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $34,320 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers | $34,630 |
| Bartenders | $34,680 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $34,690 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $34,720 |
| Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers | $35,070 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $35,090 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in CA
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside CA. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($60,468 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Merced, CA? ▼
Which published medians lead Merced, CA? ▼
What is the cost of living in Merced, CA? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Merced, CA come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Merced, CA wage figures in a real decision
- Physicians, All Other leads published medians in Merced, CA at $273,110/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Physicians, All Other
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $60,468 adjusts to about $61,529 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 98.3. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for CA before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.