Merced migration, mapped
In 2022–23, 9,195 people moved into the Merced metro and 9,878 moved out, a net of −683. Yellow arcs are people arriving, blue arcs are people leaving. Hover a dot to see the corridor, or click through to compare.
The map couldn’t load. The numbers below still tell the story.
† IRS methodology change in this year’s files (see methodology)
What the flows say
- Biggest published corridors: Modesto, CA leads both directions, with 2,030 people in and 2,215 out in 2022–23. The listed corridors cover about 75–84% of all flows; the totals count everyone.
- Trend: net flow has reversed from gain to loss over the last three years, from +2,152 in 2020–21 to −683 in 2022–23†.
Population · 2025
297,260
▲ 0.2% year over year · growing
Peak population
297,260
highest in the series shown (since 2000)
Why the population is changing
- Growth driver: the population grew in 2025 even after losing 1,310 people to domestic migration. International migration (+145) and births minus deaths (+1,591) more than made up for it.
- Peak population: the 2025 estimate of 297,260 is the highest on record, in data going back to 2000.
Net income flow · 2022–23
−$50M
▼ $241M arrived · $291M left
Avg household income · movers
$51k in · $54k out
leavers out-earn arrivals by 6%
Merced wealth migration
- Money moved: households moving into the Merced metro in 2022–23 reported $241M in income (AGI). Households leaving took $291M with them, a net loss of $50M.
- Income gap: the average household moving in reported $51k of income, vs $54k for leavers. Leavers out-earn arrivals by 6%.
About the data
Corridors are IRS county-to-county migration flows added up into metro areas (2023 Census metro definitions; exemptions ≈ people). "Rest of" entries cover a state's counties outside any featured metro. The IRS hides corridors with fewer than 20 returns, so the lists here cover about 84% of inbound and 75% of outbound movers in 2022–23. The in, out, and net totals count everyone. Income figures are the total income (AGI) movers reported, from the complete county totals. Dollars are not adjusted for inflation, and household averages divide by the number of returns. Population figures are Census Bureau estimates; the peak covers records since 2000. Years marked † had a change in how the IRS built the files. Full details on the methodology page.
Download this data (CSV), free to use with attribution.
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