Groceries and convenience · Metro area · California
Convenience stores in the Merced, CA metro area
The convenience stores in the Merced, CA metro area, the household spending behind them and how the market ranks against other metro areas.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 39 out of 100: Lower middle
Ranked #268 of 387 scored metro areas
#20 of 25 scored metro areas based in California
- Listings
- 91
- 62 chain locations (68%)
- Official establishments
- 18
- Businesses with payroll, 2023
- Household spending a year
- $489.2M
- On groceries · $5,684 a household
- Spending per listing
- $5.4M
- 32% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 10.6
- 33% above the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 297,260
- +5.1% since 2020
See the convenience stores around any address in the Merced metro area
The site report maps the convenience stores on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Merced metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
Households in the Merced metro area spend about $489.2M a year on groceries, or $5,684 per household, 10% below the U.S. average. Spread across 91 convenience stores, that is $5.4M per store, 32% below the U.S. figure of $7.9M. The spending figure covers all groceries, not only convenience stores.
The Merced metro area has 91 convenience stores on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 68% of them, against 60% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 10.6, 33% above the U.S. rate of 8.0.
In 2023, official counts showed 18 businesses with payroll in the Merced metro area classed as convenience stores. That is one for every 4,781 households, against one for every 3,493 across the U.S.
Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Merced metro area grew 5.1%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). For convenience stores, the Merced metro area has a Groundwork market score of 39 (lower middle): #268 of 387 scored metro areas and #20 of 25 scored metro areas based in California.
How the Merced metro area compares
The same measures for California and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all groceries by the convenience stores counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.
| Measure | Merced metro area | California | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 10.6 | 6.7 | 8.0 |
| Spending per listing | $5.4M | $9.8M | $7.9M |
| Households per official establishment | 4,781 | 4,353 | 3,493 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +8.6% | +22.0% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +5.1% | −0.4% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on groceries | $5,684 | $6,548 | $6,319 |
| Median household income | $65,510 | $99,122 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 39 | 58 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 18
- Employees, 2023
- 119
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $2.6M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- Not publishedNot published for this business type
- Map listings, September 2026
- 9162 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 62The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 0
- Amount
- $0
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as convenience stores in the Merced metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.
Population and households in the Merced metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 297,260+5.1% since 2020
- Households
- 86,055
- Median age
- 32.1
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 54%
- Vehicles per household
- 2.1
- Land area
- 1,938 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 150
- Median household income
- $65,510+22.1% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $87,781
- Median home value
- $391,800
- Jobs located here
- 77,775
- Daytime population
- 255,124Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Merced metro area?
These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the convenience stores on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the Merced metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardConvenience stores across California
Every California market ranked →The highest-scoring metro areas in California for convenience stores, numbered among those based in California, with the Merced metro area marked.
Top metro areas in California
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 74 | 313 | 4.6 | $16.3M | −0.6% | #40 of 387 |
| 2San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 72 | 804 | 4.6 | $15.6M | −2.4% | #49 of 387 |
| 3San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | 70 | 60 | 5.5 | $11.8M | 0.0% | #59 of 387 |
| 4Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 70 | 615 | 7.0 | $9.3M | +3.2% | #62 of 387 |
| 5Stockton-Lodi, CA | 67 | 207 | 8.4 | $7.5M | +5.5% | #78 of 387 |
| 6Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | 65 | 162 | 5.8 | $11.7M | −1.5% | #91 of 387 |
| 7Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 64 | 60 | 6.2 | $11M | −4.7% | #99 of 387 |
| 8San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 64 | 726 | 6.2 | $10.8M | −0.6% | #100 of 387 |
| 9Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | 62 | 98 | 5.1 | $13M | −0.4% | #112 of 387 |
| 10Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 59 | 2,792 | 6.2 | $10.4M | −2.6% | #135 of 387 |
| 20Merced, CA | 39 | 91 | 10.6 | $5.4M | +5.1% | #268 of 387 |
Other business types in the Merced metro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
- Grocery and convenience stores25
- Grocery stores21
- Convenience stores39
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many convenience stores are in the Merced, CA metro area?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 91 convenience stores in the Merced metro area. 62 of them (68%) are chain locations. The listings count convenience stores without fuel. Official counts show 18 businesses with payroll classed as convenience stores in 2023.
How much do households in the Merced, CA metro area spend on groceries?
About $489.2M a year, or $5,684 per household. That is 10% below the U.S. average (an index of 90, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 91 convenience stores on map listings, it comes to $5.4M per store. That spending covers all groceries, which convenience stores share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 86,055 households in the Merced metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Merced, CA metro area compare with the U.S. for convenience stores?
The Merced metro area has 10.6 convenience stores per 10,000 households, 33% above the U.S. rate of 8.0. Spending per store is $5.4M, 32% below the U.S. figure of $7.9M. At the U.S. ratio of convenience stores to household spending, the Merced metro area would have about 62, against 91 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 4,781 households, against one for every 3,493 across the U.S.
How fast is the Merced, CA metro area growing?
Population estimates put the Merced metro area at 297,260 people in 2025, up 5.1% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 86,055 households. The median household income in the Merced metro area is $65,510 a year, 19% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 22.1% from the 2015–2019 survey, before inflation.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Merced metro area scores 39 for convenience stores (lower middle), #268 of 387 scored metro areas.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Merced metro area. It maps the convenience stores on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
How the score works · Top markets for convenience stores · All 56 business types in the Merced metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Merced metro area?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
The button opens the report at the center of the Merced metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.