Merriam is a somewhat small city located in the state of Kansas. With a population of 10,966 people and four associated neighborhoods, Merriam is the 34th largest community in Kansas. Merriam real estate is some of the most expensive in Kansas, although Merriam house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Merriam is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Merriam is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Merriam who work in office and administrative support (14.56%), sales jobs (9.41%), and management occupations (8.77%). Also of interest is that Merriam has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 14.90% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. The education level of Merriam ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Merriam, 42.46% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree. The per capita income in Merriam in 2022 was $39,079, which is wealthy relative to Kansas, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $156,316 for a family of four. However, Merriam contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Merriam is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Merriam home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Merriam residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Merriam include German, English, Irish, European, and Dutch. The most common language spoken in Merriam is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
