Planada (Spanish for "Plain") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Merced County, California, United States. Planada is east of Merced, the county seat, at an elevation of .
Geography
Planada is located in eastern Merced County at ,
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Planada had a population of 4,164 and a population density of . The median age was 32.2 years. The age distribution was 30.0% under 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 or older. For every 100 females, there were 100.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.8 males. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
The whole population lived in households. There were 1,150 households, out of which 49.2% had children under the age of 18. Of all households, 57.3% were married-couple households, 6.7% were cohabiting couple households, 22.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 13.6% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. About 11.3% of households were one person, and 5.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.62. There were 979 families (85.1% of all households).
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census
2010 census
At the 2010 census Planada had a population of 4,584. The population density was . The racial makeup of Planada was 1,681 (36.7%) White, 22 (0.5%) African American, 23 (0.5%) Native American, 46 (1.0%) Asian, 1 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 2,725 (59.4%) from other races, and 86 (1.9%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4,347 persons (94.8%).
The whole population lived in households, no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters and no one was institutionalized.
There were 1,115 households, 675 (60.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 737 (66.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 154 (13.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 111 (10.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 45 (4.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 9 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 95 households (8.5%) were one person and 35 (3.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 4.11. There were 1,002 families (89.9% of households); the average family size was 4.30.
The age distribution was 1,552 people (33.9%) under the age of 18, 588 people (12.8%) aged 18 to 24, 1,201 people (26.2%) aged 25 to 44, 876 people (19.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 367 people (8.0%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 27.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.2 males.
There were 1,207 housing units at an average density of 765.3 per square mile, of the occupied units 649 (58.2%) were owner-occupied and 466 (41.8%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.3%. 2,638 people (57.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,946 people (42.5%) lived in rental housing units.
Politics
In the California State Legislature, Planada is located in , and in .
In the United States House of Representatives, Planada is in California's 13th congressional district, represented by Democrat Adam Gray as of January 2025.
Notable people
The ornithologist Rollo Beck died in Planada in 1950.