Welcome to Modesto ...
The city of Modesto is located in Stanislaus County<1> and is the County Seat for Stanislaus County.
When the people of Modesto refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Modestan<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Modesto has a population of 215,196 people<3> (see below for details).
While we don't have a date for the establishment of Modesto, you might get a feel for its founding by knowing that they incorporated August 6, 1884.
Modesto is 90 feet [27 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Modesto lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time
Modesto lies within the (209) area code.
The ZIP codes for Modesto: 95350-95358, 95397<5>
Websites for Modesto ...
Official Website: www.ci.modesto.ca.us/
Chamber of Commerce: www.modchamber.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Modesto had an population of 215,196 people. This is an increase of 6.97% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 13.95% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Modesto had a population of 201,165 people (which is 39.1% of the total population of Stanislaus County). This makes Modesto the county's most populous community.
The population of Modesto represents 0.54% of the population of California (which has 37,253,956 people), making it the state's 18th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 201,165 people, the population of Modesto increased 6.52% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 188,856 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Modesto.
Adding Modesto to Our Gazetteer ...
As we work on our Gazetteer, we occasionally find mention of a community that is new to us. When we find such a community, we add it to our Gazetteer with the hope of adding more information in the future.
We originally found mention of Modesto in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
In addition, we also found mention of Modesto elsewhere: The earliest book where we found it mentioned was in the Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details about the above, see References and Mentions for Modesto on our Genealogy Page.
Communities Also Named Modesto ...
Using our Gazetteer, we have found that there are 3 communities that are also named Modesto - they are located in Georgia, Illinois and Indiana.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Modesto.
Communities near Modesto ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Modesto.
- Manteca [San Joaquin County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteca
- Manteca [San Joaquin County] lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<6> to the northwest of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 83,028 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Manteca
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manteca<7>
- Turlock [Stanislaus County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turlock
- Turlock [Stanislaus County] lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<6> to the southeast of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 73,631 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Turlock
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Turlock<7>
- Lathrop [San Joaquin County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lathrop
- Lathrop [San Joaquin County] lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<6> to the northwest of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 24,483 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Lathrop
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lathrop<7>
- Oakdale [Stanislaus County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakdale
- Oakdale [Stanislaus County] lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<6> to the northeast of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 23,596 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Oakdale
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakdale<7>
- Continue List (6 more) ...
- Patterson [Stanislaus County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson
- Patterson [Stanislaus County] lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<6> to the southwest of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 22,524 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Patterson
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Patterson<7>
- Ripon [San Joaquin County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ripon
- Ripon [San Joaquin County] lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<6> to the northwest of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 16,386 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Ripon
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ripon<7>
- Waterford [Stanislaus County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waterford
- Waterford [Stanislaus County] lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<6> to the east of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 8,962 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Waterford
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waterford<7>
- Escalon [San Joaquin County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Escalon
- Escalon [San Joaquin County] lies 9 miles [14.5 km]<6> to the north of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 7,574 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Escalon
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Escalon<7>
- Hughson [Stanislaus County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughson
- Hughson [Stanislaus County] lies 7 miles [11.3 km]<6> to the southeast of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 7,565 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Hughson
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hughson<7>
- Ceres [Stanislaus County]
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ceres
- Ceres [Stanislaus County] lies 4 miles [6.4 km]<6> to the southeast of Modesto
- Estimated population in 2019: 48,706 people
- Jump to Google Maps centered on Ceres
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ceres<7>
- Patterson [Stanislaus County]
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Modesto. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Modesto.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Modesto. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Modesto.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Modesto. Our list includes 22 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Modesto.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Modesto ...
Looking for more information about Modesto? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Modesto, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Modesto.
Other Roadside Stops ...
Find a Community located in California
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Modesto: www.ci.modesto.ca.us/
The official website for Stanislaus County: www.co.stanislaus.ca.us/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of California's counties, including Stanislaus, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Modesto refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Modesto may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Modesto. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Modesto - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Modesto). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Modesto or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Modesto includes: 95350, 95351, 95352, 95353, 95354, 95355, 95356, 95357 & 95358. |
| <6> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Modesto) to Point B. If you need the driving distance (or directions), we recommend that you use one of the Mapping Services listed on our Map Page for Modesto. Since we usually use Google Maps, we've provided the following link for your convenience: Google Map and Driving Directions starting from Modesto Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Modesto. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.6528, Longitude: -120.9938 |
| <7> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |