Merced gets fair ranking for young families

Merced ranks right around the middle of the pack of 138 cities for people looking to raise young families, according to a report from San Francisco-based nerdwallet.com, a consumer advocacy group.

Merced ranked 68th on the list that used public school ratings, 2012 median home values, monthly homeownership costs, and median household income and income growth from 1999 to 2012.

The top spot went to Clovis, which has “a combination of affordable homes, highly ranked schools and long-term growth,” the study said.

Merced’s makeup has the potential to get younger as UC Merced continues to grow and bring college-age people to the area. Leaders of the city and Merced County have expressed a desire to get college graduates to stick around and work or build businesses in the area, rather than moving to the Bay Area or Southern California.

The list included only cities with a population larger than 15,000.

Other area cities made the list: Atwater at 29, Chowchilla at 56, Turlock at 63, Modesto at 79 and Los Banos at 113.

Merced made another list from the consumer advocacy group this year. In June, the city rounded out a list of the top 10 California cities on the rise, according to an inventory released by nerdwallet.com.

For that list, the site ranked 325 cities in the state, comparing changes in employment, population and median income from 2009 to 2012 as recorded in U.S. Census Bureau data.

To see either list, visit nerdwallet.com.

This story was originally published November 2, 2014 at 5:19 AM with the headline "Merced gets fair ranking for young families."