Merced is a city of 107,500 in Merced County and the main city of the Merced metro area, home to 290,200 · Updated November 2026
How common is property crime in Merced?
Merced grades C for property crime, with more of it than the neighborhoods where 82% of Americans live. Theft makes up 42% of it. Burglary, the crime most likely to reach into a home, grades C, and vehicle theft grades C+.
C
Property crime CrimeGrade™
Safety score 429 of 1,000More property crime than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
18% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more property crime than Merced as a whole, and 82% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a property crime safety score of 823, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Merced scores 429.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more property crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its property crime with the homes, parked cars and people there, on one national scale, from green for the least to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Merced, CA at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Merced, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out about property crime in Merced
Burglary at more than double the US rate. Merced has 5.6 burglaries a year per 1,000 residents, against 2.4 nationally.
Arson stands out among cities graded C for property crime. For the typical resident of a US city graded C for property crime, the figure is 0.13 arsons a year per 1,000 residents; Merced has 0.69.
Where property crime is lowest and highest in Merced
Property crime varies widely across Merced: 29% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 41% in areas graded D or F. Property crime grades across Merced run from A+ to F.
29%30%41%
A or B 29%C 30%D or F 41%
Share of residents, by the property crime CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Is property crime going up in Merced?
Reported property crime in Merced has held about steady since 2019, within 1%. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts stayed at about 28 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). Property crime changed little from 2023 to 2024.
Property crime, change since 2019
MercedUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Merced. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Merced
Property, US
2016
+22%
+15%
2017
+17%
+12%
2018
-4%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-19%
-8%
2021
-16%
-10%
2022
+0%
-6%
2023
-3%
-7%
2024
+1%
-15%
Property crime rates and types in Merced
CrimeGrade™ estimates Merced has about 40 reported property crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 68% more than the US as a whole and 45% more than California.
All property crime
Burglary
Vehicle theft
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. Property crime here includes vandalism, which the FBI's property crime rate leaves out.
Theft is the most common property crime in Merced, about 42% of the total, followed by vandalism and burglary.
Each CrimeGrade™ here compares a property crime with what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for vehicle theft, people and parking for theft, homes and businesses for vandalism. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when property crime happens in Merced
Merced has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
In Merced, 50% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Car thefts happen most often at homes: 36% of them, against 33% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (50%)
Night (midnight to 6 am)
Car theft
Homes (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (30%)
Morning (6 am to noon)
Vandalism
Homes (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
Property crime in Merced and nearby cities
Merced has the most property crime of its 5 nearest cities.
Among the traits that tend to go with property crime, two set Merced apart: it has 7.3 stores and restaurants for every 1,000 residents, against 10.5 nationally, and 39% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with few stores and restaurants tend to report less theft, yet theft runs higher here than that would suggest.
Stores and restaurantsShops and restaurants draw crowds and parked cars. Places with many stores tend to report more theft.7.3 per 1,000 residentsUS: 10.5Lower than for 79% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more car theft.39% of residentsUS: 24%Higher than for 75% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft. 73% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D+ (21 of 100)US: 21Higher than for 63% of US city residents
Show all 6
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Merced: D (15 of 100).6 trips an hourUS: noneHigher than for 72% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft.31 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 68% of US city residents
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.1.5 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Lower than for 59% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Merced on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What property crime costs Merced
Property crime costs Merced about $34 million a year, or $317 per resident and about $1,054 per household: the value of what is stolen or damaged, plus the police, courts and prisons that respond.
Cost of property crime per resident, per year
How the cost breaks down
Pain and suffering add little to the cost of property crime, so this is close to its full cost.
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Burglary
$5.5 million
$51
Theft
$9.3 million
$87
Vehicle theft
$8.8 million
$82
Arson
$1.8 million
$16
Vandalism
$8.8 million
$82
Total
$34 million
$317
How CrimeGrade™ works
The property crime CrimeGrade™ covers burglary, theft, car theft, arson and vandalism, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most, on one scale for the whole country.
It weighs each property crime against what it affects: homes for burglary and arson, parked cars for car theft, and the people and parking around stores for theft.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
