Crime Grade · FBI UCR Data · 2025
Merced, CA Crime Grade
How Merced grades for violent crime against every other reporting U.S. city — and against the rest of California — based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting data.
National
10/10
vs. all U.S. cities ≥ 25,000 population
California
10/10
vs. California cities ≥ 10,000 population
In 2025, the violent crime rate in Merced, CA was 695.6 per 100,000 residents (685 incidents over a population of 98,482). That puts Merced 114% above the U.S. rate of 325.3 and 67% above the California statewide rate of 415.5.
That ranks Merced #3,517 of 3,771 ranked U.S. cities, safer than 7% of them, and #343 of 371 in California. Violent crime is down 12% year over year and down 13% over the last five years.
Merced, CA crime — key facts
- National Crime Grade
- F (10/10)
- California Grade
- F (10/10)
- Violent crime rate
- 695.6 / 100k
- National rank
- #3,517 of 3,771
- CA rank
- #343 of 371
- Safer than
- 7% of U.S. cities
- Year over year
- down 12%
- 5-year change
- down 13%
- Population
- 98,482
- Reporting agency
- Merced Police Department
- Data year
- 2025 · FBI UCR
Reported by Merced Police Department (FBI ORI CA0240600) to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Download the full dataset (CSV) · methodology.
Violent crime rate, 5-year trend
Per 100,000 residents. Merced (red), California (blue), U.S. average (gray dashed).
Merced vs. U.S., 2025 — by offense
Rates per 100,000 residents for each offense category.
Full data, last 5 years
Rates per 100,000 residents. Raw counts in parentheses.
| Offense | 2020 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 798.1(672) | 805.9(743) | 832.9(784) | 791.0(760) | 695.6(685) |
| Murder | 8.3(7) | 7.6(7) | 8.5(8) | 7.3(7) | 6.1(6) |
| Rape | 47.5(40) | 121.5(112) | 83.9(79) | 104.1(100) | 71.1(70) |
| Robbery | 158.0(133) | 168.1(155) | 189.1(178) | 166.5(160) | 121.8(120) |
| Aggravated assault | 584.3(492) | 508.7(469) | 551.4(519) | 513.1(493) | 496.5(489) |
| Property crime | 2434.8(2,050) | 2922.2(2,694) | 2779.3(2,616) | 2888.3(2,775) | 2493.9(2,456) |
| Burglary | 463.2(390) | 417.6(385) | 416.5(392) | 570.4(548) | 381.8(376) |
| Larceny | 1344.5(1,132) | 1897.1(1,749) | 1700.9(1,601) | 1759.0(1,690) | 1732.3(1,706) |
| Motor vehicle theft | 507.1(427) | 463.2(427) | 567.3(534) | 482.9(464) | 294.5(290) |
How the Crime Grade is calculated
- What is the source of the Merced, CA Crime Grade?
- FBI Uniform Crime Reporting via the Crime Data Explorer. Agency-level data, pulled directly. No third-party aggregators, no proprietary score.
- What metric does the Merced Crime Grade use?
- Violent crime rate per 100,000 residents (murder + rape + robbery + aggravated assault), most recent fully-reported year.
- How is the national decile for Merced calculated?
- Merced's rate placed against all FBI-reporting U.S. cities with population ≥ 25,000. 1 = safest.
- How is the California state decile calculated?
- Same calculation restricted to California cities with population ≥ 10,000.
- How do decile scores convert to a letter grade?
- 1–3 = A · 4–5 = B · 6–7 = C · 8 = D · 9–10 = F.
- How often is the Merced Crime Grade refreshed?
- Twice a year. The FBI typically releases the prior year's full data each September.
- What are the limits of this Crime Grade?
- The FBI relies on local agency reporting. Rates reflect what was reported, not what occurred.
Nearby cities in California
Comparable California cities by population.
Compare Merced to other places
Want crime data for your application?
SpotCrime's Real-Time Crime Data API delivers incident-level data, not just aggregate grades. Used by family-safety apps, real-estate platforms, executive protection teams, and government agencies.