Golden Merced Care Center emerged as Merced County’s largest nursing home by resident count in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Records indicate the facility offered 121 beds, exceeding the county’s average by 43 beds as of the first quarter of 2026. An average of 104.2 residents were served throughout the period.
The CMS gave Golden Merced Care Center an overall rating of 3 out of 5, slightly below the statewide nursing home average of 3.2 in California.
During the same quarter, Anberry Transitional Care ranked second with 120 available beds, while Anberry Nursing and Rehabilitation Center was third with 99 beds.
By the end of the first quarter of 2026, Golden Merced Care Center had incurred $103,467 in fines across five instances and been subject to five penalties.
In Merced County, California, there were eight for-profit nursing facilities in total.
U.S. Census Bureau estimates show the national population of older adults continues to rise as younger groups decrease in number. From 2020 to 2024, the count of Americans age 65 and over grew by 13%, while the population under 18 declined by 1.7%. The older adult population in the United States has surged since 1920, expanding from 4.9 million to over 61 million by 2024.
Research from 2021 estimates that roughly half of Americans in this demographic—about 28 million people—could require long-term services and support. The projections also suggest that more than one-third may eventually need care in a nursing home.
“Living a long life is something that many of us want and could get,” said Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, an insurance education organization. “But when we live a long life, the chances of us needing long-term care increase exponentially. But when you need that type of care, there are limited options.”
| Rank | Nursing Home | Overall Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golden Merced Care Center | 3 |
| 2 | Anberry Transitional Care | 3 |
| 3 | Anberry Nursing and Rehabilitation Center | 5 |
| 4 | Merced Behavioral Center | 5 |
| 5 | Merced Nursing & Rehabilitation Center | 4 |
| 6 | Franciscan Post-Acute Care Center | 4 |
| 7 | LA Sierra Care Center | 3 |
| 8 | Los Banos Post Acute | 2 |
| 9 | New Bethany Skilled Nursing | 3 |
| 10 | Grace Home, Inc. | 4 |
Information in this article was obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The source data can be found here.
