Sales Development Representative salary in Merced, CA

Pay in Merced against California and the US

The middle half of sales development representatives in Merced earns $39,700–$74,790. The top tenth earns $131,480 or more, 3.7 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 3.9 times. The mean ($66,830) is 36% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $35,090 wide, against $67,790 across California and $52,810 nationally: employers in Merced pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a sales development representative here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $25,790 over the median, the 25th only $9,300 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $33,277 a year in employer cost. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $69,990 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Merced, and the California statewide median of $80,850 falls between the 75th and 90th percentiles.

What a hire really costs in Merced

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $14,226 to the $49,000 median and brings it to $63,226 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for sales development representatives we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Merced

Of the 16 roles we track in Merced, this one ranks #12 by median pay, between administrative assistants ($51,710) and medical administrative assistants ($46,660). Project Coordinator is the highest at $103,850.

Measured against the US median, this job is the lowest paid of the 16 roles we track in Merced (-30.0%); administrative assistants come first (+8.8%). The typical role here is at +1.8%, so, measured against the US, sales development representatives cost less in Merced than the area's general pay level would suggest. Sales development representatives hold 6.9% of the jobs in these 16 roles in Merced, 9.4% across California and 8.0% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in California

Across the 28 areas of California with data for this job, the median runs from $46,050 in Hanford-Corcoran to $116,510 in San Jose-Sunnyvale, a gap of $70,460 a year. All 23 areas in California with more sales development representatives than Merced also pay more, among them Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA ($79,450) and San Francisco-Oakland, CA ($96,960).

Merced against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Merced is #334 of 518 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside California, McAllen-Edinburg and Florence pay just above Merced and Huntington-Ashland and Panama City-Panama City Beach just below. All four are within $350 a year of the median in Merced. Of the three markets with about as many sales development representatives, all three pay more.

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Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.