NAICS 446110 · California overview
Independent Pharmacies in Merced County
Merced County had 23 Pharmacy establishments in 2023, ranking 27 of 50 California counties and accounting for 0.5% of the statewide total.
- Establishments (2023)
- 23
- Rank 27 of 50 counties
- Employees
- 381
- Mid-March employment
- Annual payroll
- $17M
- All establishments
- Per 10k residents
- 0.8
- 297,260 residents
More recent reading
BLS QCEW, 2026Q1The 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
- 30
- 2026Q1
- Employment
- 369
- Quarter-end level
- Average weekly wage
- $937
- Per covered worker
- Quarterly trend
- -11.8%
- 2025Q2 to 2026Q1
1.05 location quotient. Pharmacy 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 Pharmacy in Merced County. 14 of 23 establishments (61%) employ 10 or more people, the practical floor for most acquisition financing.
| Employees | Establishments | Share | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 5-9 | 6 | 26.1% | |
| 10-19 | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 20-49 | 9 | 39.1% |
Establishment trend
Year-over-year establishment counts, County Business Patterns. Net decline of 11.5% since 2020.
| Year | Establishments | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 26 | n/a |
| 2021 | 27 | +1 |
| 2022 | 24 | -3 |
| 2023 | 23 | -1 |
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.
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
- -18%
- Businesses per resident
- Rank by count
- #27
- of 50 counties
- Rank by density
- #38
- of 50 ranked
- Since 2020
- -12%
- Change in establishments
Density compares independent pharmacies 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 establishments | Merced | California | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 employeesOwner-operated, often no management layer | 13.0% | 21.8% | -8.7% |
| 5 to 49 employeesThe range most individual buyers target | 87.0% | 75.4% | +11.5% |
| 10 or more employeesPractical floor for acquisition financing | 60.9% | 54.4% | +6.4% |
What acquirers look at
PBM reimbursement pressure has compressed margins for a decade. Compounding, long-term-care contracts and clinical services are what make one viable.
Cities in Merced
The figures above cover the county as a whole. These are the places within it.
Other industries in Merced
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns. Establishment counts, employment and annual payroll by NAICS. Retrieved 2026-09-08.
- 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.