Modesto, CA
Modesto, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Modesto, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Modesto ranks 201st for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 127th for income. A household earns $78,673 a year while median rent runs $1,753/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 4% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is household income (127th of 300), while education is the soft spot (292nd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 260th and home prices 251st among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Modesto, your take-home is worth about $55,996 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 127th of 300↑24.8%$78,673
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 267th of 300104 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $75,569
- Per-capita income
- $34,343
- Full-time pay
- $43,795
Housing
- Median rent
- 260th of 300↑42.4%$1,753/mo
- Home value
- 251st of 300↑39.6%$468,300
- Property tax
- $3,320/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 291st of 3008.3%
- Bachelor's+
- 292nd of 30019.7%
- Avg commute
- 279th of 30030.4 min
People
- Population
- 556,972
- Population change
- +1.1%
- Median age
- 35.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 21.5%
- Broadband
- 93.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 255th of 30053
- Natural-hazard loss
- 186th of 300$15/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 282nd of 30025.2%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 14.2%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- —
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Commute
- – Air quality
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — modesto ap.
What jobs pay in Modesto
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $260,020
- Lawyers
- $164,010
- Pharmacists
- $160,520
- Financial managers
- $160,180
- IT managers
- $159,720
- Registered nurses
- $132,590
- Software developers
- $119,770
- General & operations managers
- $104,330
- Secondary school teachers
- $101,890
- Elementary school teachers
- $101,640
- Civil engineers
- $101,000
- Police officers
- $98,230
- Accountants & auditors
- $83,560
- Electricians
- $76,710
- Carpenters
- $73,730
- Plumbers
- $63,280
- Construction laborers
- $60,630
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $59,650
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,330
- Customer service reps
- $47,230
- Janitors
- $41,230
- Retail salespersons
- $37,430
- Cashiers
- $36,490
- Waiters & waitresses
- $34,910
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Modesto metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in California are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Texas556
- Florida301
- New York242
- Oregon225
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Modesto
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Modesto metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Modesto metro?
- Median gross rent across the Modesto, CA Metro Area is $1,753 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Modesto.
- What is the median household income in the Modesto metro?
- A typical household in the Modesto, CA Metro Area earns $78,673 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Modesto expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Modesto, CA Metro Area runs about 4% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Modesto metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $75,569 (versus its face value of $78,673). CityLedger rates the Modesto, CA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Modesto metro?
- The median home value across the Modesto, CA Metro Area is $468,300 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Modesto metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Modesto, CA Metro Area is 8.3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).