Merced County homeless population dropped in 2025, according to report
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- Merced County's homeless population fell 14.3% from 837 in 2024 to 717 in 2025
- City of Merced reported a 9.2% decline, with 520 individuals counted as homeless
- Officials attribute drop to expanded shelters, outreach efforts and new enforcement
Merced County reported a 14.3% dip in the homeless population in the past year as the number of unhoused people dropped from 837 to 717 people, according to the recently released 2025 Point-In-Time Count report.
The City of Merced has also seen its homeless population decrease from 573 in 2024 to 520 people this year, including 320 sheltered and 200 unsheltered individuals counted this year. The drop equates to a 9.2% decrease in the homeless population for Merced.
Sheltered homelessness includes individuals staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing, while unsheltered refers to people residing in places such as streets, cars, or abandoned buildings.
The 2025 homeless population count of 717 in Merced County is the lowest since 636 unhoused individuals were counted in 2020.
Local officials are encouraged with the report.
“It gives me some hope and optimism that what we’re doing, as far as coordinating outreach, expanding emergency shelter access — to really help people stabilize — and then investing in these restricted, affordable housing units, we’re kind of on the right path to help people,” John Ceccoli, Merced County Human Services Agency deputy director, said.
The Point-In-Time Count report is an annual survey, conducted by over 100 volunteers, to identify the number of unhoused people on a single day. The survey is led by the Merced County Continuum of Care and this year the count took place on Jan. 23.
“The methodology and the consistency makes it important,” Ceccoli said. “Annually, we do this at the same time frame, following the same process with 100 volunteers across the county. It’s just this one day deal, but it’s a consistent one day deal that gives us kind of a snapshot or report card.”
Some of the key findings of this year’s Point-in-time count include:
• Of the 717 individuals in Merced County counted, 343 adults and three children, under age 18, were unsheltered and 330 adults and 41 children, under age 18, were sheltered.
• The number of unsheltered people in Merced County decreased from 428 individuals in 2024 to 346 individuals in 2025 representing a decrease of 82 individuals or 19.2%.
• The number of sheltered individuals in Merced County decreased from 409 in 2024 to 371 in 2025 representing a decrease of 38 individuals or 9.3%.
• 37.2% of sheltered persons in Merced County and 32.1% of unsheltered persons identified as a woman (girl if child).
• 29.9% of sheltered adults in Merced County and 19.1% of unsheltered adults were age 55-and-older.
• Nearly three-fourths (72.5%) of individuals counted as sheltered and unsheltered in Merced County were in the City of Merced.
• 17.2% of unsheltered individuals became homeless for the first time during the past 12 months.
Other Merced County cities saw a decrease in homeless population.
Atwater’s unhoused population dropped approximately 32% from 53 to 36 individuals from 2024 to 2025. Los Banos saw its homeless population decrease 23.5% from 149 to 114, including 28 sheltered and 86 unsheltered individuals.
Livingston saw an increase from one to nine unhoused people from 2024 to 2025.
Merced mayor Matthew Serratto said the decline in the county and cityis not an accident.
“County wide, we have a first rate homeless response and management infrastructure,” he said. “That outreach includes various social workers. The enforcement within the city, with the Dart team, plus more proactive patrols on the part of police county wide has helped.”
“There’s been a concerted effort to strengthening our shelter capacity through the navigation center, through the D Street Shelter, also another network of smaller, distributive transitional homes that has us sheltering, I believe 371 people during the count,” Serratto added.
The report comes out after Merced County and the City of Merced have been more aggressive in enforcing no public encampment ordinances in recent months.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Grants Pass v. Johnson that cities could ban people from camping in public even if there are no shelter beds available.
The Merced City Council passed an ordinance in November that bans public camping and carries stricter fines for violators.
Merced County teamed up with The City of Merced and other agencies in April to tear down a large homeless encampment located off of Highway 99 near East Childs Avenue in the area of Southeast Merced.
“We just got to keep the pedal down,” Serratto said. “We have a lot more housing coming. We have to get more aggressive when it comes to outreach and enforcement. More aggressive when it comes to drug treatment programs, and so hopefully we’re looking forward more positive progress over the next few years.”
