Merced County
California · FIPS 06047
According to CFPB HMDA 2024 application volume among U.S. counties, Merced County ranks #384 of 3,210, and #25 of 58 in California.
Mortgage lending activity in Merced County, California based on lender filings under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Data covers all applications received by HMDA-reporting institutions operating in this county during 2024. Why mortgages get denied walks the denial-reason codes that appear in books like this one.
Local mortgage market. Merced County, California saw 7,208 HMDA-reported mortgage applications in 2024. Lenders originated 3,449 of those loans and denied 1,274, producing a denial rate of 17.7% and an approval (origination) rate of 47.8%. The average loan amount was $288,270 at an average note rate of 6.97%, with applicants self-reporting average annual income of $40K. 254 distinct institutions reported mortgage activity in this county.
Borrower leverage and affordability signal. The loan-to-income ratio averages 7.2x, meaning typical borrowers took on mortgages of about 7.2 times their annual income. That ratio is a rough affordability signal: higher multiples imply tighter monthly budgets and greater exposure to rate or income shocks. See our methodology for how to read the denial rate against a local applicant pool. This page is informational data reporting, not financial, legal, or mortgage advice.
Lender concentration in Merced County
In Merced County, lead originator United Wholesale Mortgage funded 12.7% of 3,449 originated loans, in the middle tercile of U.S. counties (~10.9-16.7% top-1). The top three reporters together hold 24.6% of the book; a local credit union or regional bank still sits beside the national wholesalers.
Counties With Similar Application Volume
Nationwide counties nearest to Merced County's 7,208 HMDA applications.
Counties With a Similar Average Loan
Nationwide counties nearest to Merced County's $288,270 average loan (deduped against volume peers).
Lenders active in Merced County
United Wholesale Mortgage funded 437 of the 3,449 loans originated in Merced County, 12.7% of the county. 254 lenders reported activity here.
| # | Lender | Originated | Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Wholesale Mortgage | 437 | 12.7% |
| 2 | Rocket Mortgage | 231 | 6.7% |
| 3 | DHI Mortgage Company, LTD. | 182 | 5.3% |
| 4 | Leaderone Financial CORP. | 121 | 3.5% |
| 5 | Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union | 113 | 3.3% |
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) 2024. County FIPS codes per U.S. Census Bureau standards.
Data from FFIEC / CFPB HMDA Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset (2024). Provided for informational purposes only; does not constitute financial advice for Merced County borrowers.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Every figure on PlainLender is rendered directly from CFPB HMDA federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This Merced County page draws directly on CFPB HMDA federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-10. HMDA figures are lender-filed application outcomes for a published reporting year - not creditworthiness scores, rate quotes, Loan Estimates, underwriting decisions, or mortgage advice.