Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Ceres grades D overall, 702nd of 841 graded towns in California, mostly because of health and safety. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 80% of the country. Its police reported 183 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 79% of U.S. towns. In its favor, it is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns. Ceres’ July high is 95°F, above both the California town median (89°F) and the median of U.S. towns (85°F). Ceres's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 99% of U.S. towns. Daniel Whitmore House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Ceres beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Ceres is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 637 in 1920, 49,302 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2015 and 6 maps from 1916 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ceres, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Ceres.
Ceres fares better on crime within California than nationally, has hotter summers than nearly all U.S. towns and has added a third more jobs in ten years.
The typical Ceres home is worth about $448,000, about the same as a year ago, 41% below the California typical home. The median rent in Ceres is $1,639 a month.
| Ceres | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,639 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 64% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Ceres Unified school district. Two of its 20 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cesar Chavez Junior HighLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 685 | – |
| Ceres HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,660 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
18% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Ceres. Ceres beats the California average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 28% of adults worry about having enough food in Ceres.
| Ceres | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 16% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 24% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 22% | 19% |
| What stands out | Ceres | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5% | 6.4% |
| More uninsured adults | 18.1% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 35.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 64% of California’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,392 to 918 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Ceres’ violent crime rate is 3.7 per 1,000 residents. Ceres reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 79% report less. Ceres’ property crime rate is 15 per 1,000 residents.
| Ceres | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
6.1 miles of trail in 16 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is River Bluff Regional Park, at 72 acres.
| Ceres | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.8% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. River Bluff Regional Park | 0.8 mi | 72 |
| 2. Smyrna Park | 0.6 mi | 28 |
| 3. Roeding Heights Park | 0.2 mi | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
July afternoons average 94.8°, hotter than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 39.2°.
Ceres has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here grew from 11,680 in 2013 to 15,186.
Most working residents leave Ceres for work: only 12% work in town. 16% of Ceres residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Ceres grew to 15,186 in 2023, 3,506 more than in 2013.
| Ceres | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 5.7% | 14% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 6.6% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 62% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Ceres since 2017.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Ceres
About 5 of every 100 Ceres residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
City in the United States
Ceres is a city in Stanislaus County, California. Its population was 49,302 at the 2020 U.S. census, up from 45,417 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Modesto metropolitan statistical area. Ceres is located in the San Joaquin Valley along State Route 99, south of Modesto and north of Turlock in Stanislaus County. Ceres is named after the Roman goddess of agriculture. The newspaper in Ceres is called the Ceres Courier, which has been in publication since 1910. The offices of the Ceres Courier were relocated from an address in downtown Ceres in 2012. It has since combined day-to-day operations with its sister paper, the Turlock Journal, in Turlock. Jeff Benziger was appointed editor i…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Ceres.
Bystrom reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Ceres with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Ceres grades D overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #702 of 841 in California. It grades C− for health, C− for safety and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.