NAICS 311811 · California overview

Retail Bakeries in Merced County

Merced County had 6 Bakeries establishments in 2023, ranking 28 of 35 California counties and accounting for 0.4% of the statewide total.

Establishments (2023)
6
Rank 28 of 35 counties
Employees
37
Mid-March employment
Annual payroll
$882,000
All establishments
Per 10k residents
0.2
297,260 residents

More recent reading

BLS QCEW, 2026Q1

The figures above are County Business Patterns, which carries the size distribution but runs about two years behind. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes quarterly, so this is the same industry roughly 3 years later. The two count different universes, Census counts establishments with paid employees in the March pay period and BLS counts worksites covered by unemployment insurance during the quarter, so the numbers are not directly comparable and either can be the larger.

Establishments
8
2026Q1
Employment
n/a
Quarter-end level
Average weekly wage
n/a
Per covered worker
Quarterly trend
0.0%
2025Q2 to 2026Q1
Concentration vs the national averageBLS, 2026Q1

1.10 location quotient. Bakeries is about as concentrated in Merced County as it is nationally.

Computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not derived here. Above 1.0 means the industry is a larger share of local employment than of national employment.

Establishments by size

Employee-count distribution for Bakeries in Merced County.

EmployeesEstablishmentsShareDistribution
5-9350.0%

Establishment trend

Year-over-year establishment counts, County Business Patterns. Net growth of 20.0% since 2020.

YearEstablishmentsChange
20205n/a
202150
20226+1
202360

How this market compares

Merced County against every other county in California on the same measure. The median excludes places under 2,000 residents, where per-capita figures are arithmetically true but analytically useless.

Below average0.2 per 10,000 residents, against a state median of 0.3

Fewer businesses per resident than the typical California market. Often an underserved market, though it can also mean residents buy this service in a neighbouring town.

Vs state median
-33%
Businesses per resident
Rank by count
#28
of 35 counties
Rank by density
#28
of 35 ranked
Since 2020
+20%
Change in establishments

Density compares retail bakeries provision per resident. It does not measure revenue, profitability or whether a market is worth entering.

Business size mix

Merced is more consolidated than California as a whole: fewer micro-operators and a larger share of businesses with real headcount. Fewer targets, but the ones that exist are more likely to be financeable.

Share of establishmentsMercedCaliforniaDifference
Under 5 employeesOwner-operated, often no management layer0.0%43.3%-43.3%
5 to 49 employeesThe range most individual buyers target50.0%50.7%-0.7%
10 or more employeesPractical floor for acquisition financing0.0%31.8%-31.8%

What acquirers look at

Wholesale accounts with grocers and restaurants are worth far more than retail counter revenue. Equipment and buildout carry meaningful replacement value.

Cities in Merced

The figures above cover the county as a whole. These are the places within it.

Other industries in Merced

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns. Establishment counts, employment and annual payroll by NAICS. Retrieved 2026-09-08.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2026Q1). Quarterly establishment counts and employment for employers covered by unemployment insurance. Retrieved 2026-09-08.