According to the 2000 Census , of the 17 @,@ 890 housing units inside city limits , 15 @,@ 966 were occupied , 10 @,@ 033 of them by families . 31 @.@ 1 % of occupied households had children under the age of 18 , 36 @.@ 2 % were married couples living together , 23 @.@ 3 % consisted of a female householder with no husband present , and 37 @.@ 2 % were non @-@ families . 33 @.@ 2 % of all households were made up of individuals , and 14 @.@ 0 % had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older . The average household size was 2 @.@ 39 and the average family size was 3 @.@ 06 . The average household size has steadily decreased since 1970 , when it was 3 @.@ 04 . Meridian 's median age has increased from 30 @.@ 4 in 1970 to 34 @.@ 6 in 2000 .