The community is served by the passenger rail service Amtrak, a minor, heavily subsidized airline through Merced Regional Airport, and three bus lines.

During World War II, the Merced County fairgrounds were the site of a temporary "assembly center" where Japanese Americans were detained after being removed from their West Coast homes under Executive Order 9066.

Also within a short distance from the city limits are the Castle Air Museum, Lake Yosemite, and Merced Falls.

[12] Homes at the median level in Merced had lost 62% of their value from the second quarter of 2006, when they peaked at $336,743, the biggest drop anywhere in the country.

[14] Terry Ruscoe of Merced-Yosemite Realty, noted investors from outside of the Valley were helping to drive up home prices.

Some efforts have been directed towards diversifying its economy and are showing a lowering trend in the overall unemployment rate,[16] according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

During the Great Recession Merced suffered one of the greatest property price collapses in the country and house prices at the end of 2009 had fallen to 1998 levels, according to Zillow, making housing affordable compared to many other California locations.

The economy has traditionally relied upon agribusiness and upon the presence of Castle Air Force Base.

In September 1995, Castle Air Force Base closed after phasing down over the previous three years.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.3 square miles (60 km2).

[29] The University of California, Merced campus opened in late 2005 northeast of the city limits.

There were 27,446 housing units at an average density of 1,177.1 per square mile (454.5/km2), of which 10,637 (42.7%) were owner-occupied, and 14,262 (57.3%) were occupied by renters.

Escaping persecution from Communist forces after the Laotian Civil War, Hmong refugees from Laos moved to the United States in the 1970s and '80s, first settling in Merced and other areas in the Central Valley of California.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 prompted a move of some Hmong to Minnesota, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

More recently, many Hmong have gone to Alaska to work in crabbing and fishing industries that require little proficiency in English.

There's also the story of the late Charles Ogletree, a Merced native who rose from poverty to become a respected Harvard Law professor.

[14] Ogletree also served as the moderator for a panel discussion on civil rights in baseball on March 28, 2008, that accompanied the second annual Major League Baseball civil rights exhibition game the following day between the New York Mets and the Chicago White Sox.

According to historian Sarah Lim, during the mid-1800s Blacks came to this region and California as enslaved persons, while others arrived as free settlers.

This means that with a population of just 89,303 people, in 2021, individuals had approximately a 4.5% chance of falling victim to a crime while living-in or visiting Merced.

[47] Of the crimes that occurred, roughly 1,200 were physical (such as assault, rape or homicide) and 2,500 were property-related (e.g. burglary and theft).

[48] With its high crime rate, Merced is considered one of the "50 most dangerous" Californian cities to live in.In the California State Legislature, Merced is in the 14th Senate District, represented by Democrat Anna Caballero, and in the 27th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Esmeralda Soria.

[49] UC Merced is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and competes in the California Pacific (Cal Pac) Conference.

It offers men's and women's basketball, volleyball, soccer, water polo, cross country and track.

In July 2024, it was announced that in 2026-2027, UC Merced will begin NCAA Division II competition in the 2025-26 academic year and will be fully eligible for postseason in 2026-27.

There were the defunct Merced Black Bears of the Horizon Air Summer Series and the current Atwater Aviators of the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League.

[58] The California High-Speed Rail Authority February 2016 draft business plan, outlined the Merced station as not beginning service at the same time as the initial San Jose to Bakersfield route in 2025, but would likely open in 2029 instead.

In response, the April 2016 revisions to the business plan indeed included Merced in the initial construction segment, initially as a single-track spur connecting only to the westbound track to the Bay Area, with build out of the full Wye happening later.

[60] In August 2022, the CAHSRA announced that it had received a $25,000,000 RAISE Grant to advance design work from Madera to Merced.

[61] Sample trips in the California High Speed rail would include: Altamont Corridor Express Extension The ACE regional rail system is pursuing an extension to Merced as a part of its broader Altamont Corridor Vision plan.