2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Merced, CA vs Watsonville, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Watsonville, is 28% more than it is in Merced and is 3% below the National Average.
- Merced unemployment rate is 9.3%.
- Watsonville unemployment rate is 19.0%.
 Merced, CAWatsonville, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock19.0%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.8%1.6%
 Future Job Growth33.3%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes8.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$22,520  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$67,007$69,021
 Family Median Income$57,892  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Merced, CAWatsonville, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock6.7%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K5.0%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock7.8%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K9.4%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock6.8%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K8.0%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock12.6%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K10.4%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock14.6%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K5.2%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock7.2%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Merced, CAWatsonville, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance8.3%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock2.1%6.5%
 Community, social services2.2%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock0.1%1.2%
 Education, library7.9%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock0.5%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology3.6%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock5.7%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement3.2%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock5.4%5.4%
 Building maintenance3.8%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.4%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support18.3%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock12.8%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair8.7%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock18.0%13.1%
Reviews for Merced    44 Reviews

Merced is totally slept on - you want a little bit of everything CA has to offer, at a fraction of the price of other CA cities? Merced is the place to go. The town  More

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Over 5 years ago

Good place to live. More affordable than most of california. The city is growing and there is alot of business and growth here. Moved from the Bay area years ago and  More

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Great place to live. Lots of progress and changes coming to the city. Great place to raise a family. UC Merced is expanding and businesses are investing. Downtown is  More

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Reviews for Watsonville    3 Reviews

We live in a nice area and love the climate but cost of living have gotten way out of hand. Vandals walk around smashing windows over and over without getting  More

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the cost of housing is slightly more affordable (just slightly). Close to the beach and near perfect weather. Especially during summer when it was 107 in San Jose' it  More

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Over 19 years ago

Nice neighborhood, but since moving here we have not felt a sense of  More

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