Photo: OsotedeMonte · CC BY 3.0Modesto has higher unemployment (7.2%) than 84% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers (California 17%). Jobs and income earn Modesto B−; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Modesto: the figures worth knowing
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Modesto
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Modesto is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #540 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Modesto’s grade up (ahead of 80% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Modesto could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
How far Modesto’s workers travel
About 31% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How many people are in Modesto by day
On a workday 55,195 residents head out to work, 25,040 work right here, and 50,498 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.94 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Modesto goes to work
Where Modesto clocks in
4% of workers
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
What Modesto’s employers do
75,538 jobs are based in Modesto.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Modesto, 2013 → 2023: 68,310 → 75,538. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Modesto’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Modesto, about 30 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Modesto workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 84,700 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Modesto
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Modesto is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #259 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 92,517 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 98% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 37% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.3% of Modesto households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Modesto’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Modesto places 73rd of 116 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 154,000 to 297,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Huntington NY | 205,891 | $168K | 5.0% | 4.3% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Fremont CA | 226,442 | $182K | 5.2% | 4.7% | 17% | A |
| 9 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Roseville CA | 167,302 | $119K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Little Rock AR | 206,427 | $63K | 17.5% | 4.1% | 68% | B− |
| 72 | Tallahassee FL | 204,902 | $57K | 23.6% | 6.4% | 70% | B− |
| 73 | Modesto CA | 219,652 | $80K | 13.3% | 7.2% | 31% | B− |
| 74 | Hollywood FL | 157,019 | $67K | 14.7% | 6.5% | 13% | C+ |
| 75 | Des Moines IA | 212,086 | $66K | 15.0% | 5.6% | 41% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Modesto, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Modesto
The biggest share goes to Salida (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Modesto workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modesto | – | B− | A | 30 min | $79,891 |
| West Modesto | under 2% | C | B+ | 31 min | $61,440 |
| Airport | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Empire | under 2% | C− | C− | 23 min | $52,563 |
| Bystrom | under 2% | D | A− | 27 min | $49,094 |
| Riverdale Park | under 2% | C+ | D | 37 min | $61,786 |
| Parklawn | under 2% | B− | B− | 25 min | $61,071 |
| Salida | 2% | B | B | 32 min | $94,935 |
Same-state neighbors only. Airport: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Modesto’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Modesto: questions
What is the median household income in Modesto?
$79,891 (±$1,825) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Modesto?
13.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Modesto?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Modesto work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ceres (4%, 3 mi), Stockton (3%, 29 mi), Turlock (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Modesto walkable?
Modesto is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Modesto without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 37% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Modesto, from the people who make the trip.
More of Modesto
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.