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Moving to
Winton.
Winton is an unincorporated community in Merced County, CA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.
What it's like to live in Winton
Winton is an unincorporated community in California with rent below the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Winton deals with county unemployment above the national average, household incomes below the national average, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and college degree attainment below the national average.
The good
- Rent below the national average
The not so good
- Above-average unemployment in the county
- Below-average household incomes
- Air quality concerns
- Low college degree attainment
- High student-teacher ratio
- Hot summers
How Winton compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Winton
Based on Winton's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$2,312
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $46,240 a year
- 50% of Winton renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$67,880
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $33,940
- Homes cost 6.0× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▼ 18% below US
$1,156/mo median rent
Cost of living works in this city's favor. Median rent sits around $1,156 a month, nothing that raises eyebrows. Solid value overall. Home prices run above average, with a median around $339,400. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.
Median home value $339,400 · 50% of renters cost-burdened
Job market
10.2% county unemployment
Unemployment in Merced County is 10.2%, well above the national average of 4.3%. Moving with a job already lined up matters more here. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.
Merced County (county-wide)
Safety
370 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction
Winton doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Merced County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs close to the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.
Property crime 1411/100k · Policed by Merced County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data
Getting aroundNear US average
26 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 26.1 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 93°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 37°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Education & workforce▼ 79% below US
7% bachelor's degree or higher
This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.
Schools
4 public schools inside the boundary
There are 4 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 22:1, above the national average of 16:1.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is Yosemite National Park (66 miles away). There are 6 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Winton's strongest point is rent below the national average; the main tradeoffs are county unemployment above the national average and household incomes below the national average. A year of median rent ($1,156/mo) equals 24% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit people watching their budget. It may be a harder fit for anyone moving without a job lined up and anyone who doesn't drive.
Other places near Winton
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