Modesto, California
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Modesto census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95354. It stands on Dry Creek. The Survey maps it on the Riverbank quadrangle. 218,464 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 89 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1916 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 78 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Modesto
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 6 records
Hotel Covelllisted 1994
McHenry Mansionlisted 1978
U.S. Post Officelisted 1983
Walter B. Wood Houselisted 1988- Bald Eagle Ranch Houselisted 2014
- Dr. Robert and Mary Walton Houselisted 2006
Population over time
2 figuresModesto grew from 201,165 to 218,464 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 201,165 | |
| 2020 | 218,464 | +17,299 (+9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 17 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1916 USGS Riverbank quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1939 USGS Modesto East quadrangle1:62500
- 1942 USGS Modesto East quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1953 USGS Riverbank quadrangle1:24000
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1969 USGS Riverbank quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1994 USGS Oakdale quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1,292 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,292 fires within 5 miles of Modesto between 2005 and 2020, burning about 14,500 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 132 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1063 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 132 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 36 |
| Smoking | 22 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 18 |
| Debris and open burning | 14 |
| Natural | 4 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | not named |
| 9 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | not named |
| 9 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | not named |
| 9 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 8 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | not named |
| 8 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 7 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit | not named |
| 7 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Modesto: 2 unknowns, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed Location | Clay | Occurrence | ||
| Graystone Block Co | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Putnam Sand and Gravel Co | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
10 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Modesto in 10 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 6 flood, 2 funnel cloud, 2 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2006 | Flood | Modesto | $250,000 | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Tornado (F1) | Modesto | $15,000 | no account filed |
| March 2023 | Flood | West Modesto | - | Mudslide on SR 99 North and 6th onramp. Onramp closed. |
| December 2022 | Flood | West Modesto | - | CHP reported SR99 N and Kansas Ave onramp in Modesto flooding, with lanes 1 and 3 flooded. SR99 was closed in both directions through around midnight. |
| December 2022 | Flood | South Modesto | - | Second and third lanes completely flooded with 2 feet of water on Highway 99 and Tuolumne Boulevard off ramp. |
| December 2022 | Flood | West Modesto | - | Roadway flooding at Highway 99 and Kansas Avenue off ramp with 6 to 8 inches of water in the slow lane and right hand side of the road. |
| March 2005 | Tornado (F0) | Modesto | - | no account filed |
| May 2005 | Funnel Cloud | Modesto | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Funnel Cloud | Modesto | - | no account filed |
| February 1996 | Flood | Modesto | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bystrom | 1.4 miles | 20 | |
| Aurora | 1.5 miles | 20 | |
| Shackelford | 1.8 miles | 20 | |
| Riverside | 2.6 miles | 17 | |
| Standiford | 3.5 miles | 20 | |
| Riverdale Park | 3.6 miles | 19 | |
| Ceres | 3.7 miles | 20 | |
| Harp | 4.1 miles | 20 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Modesto | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q204561 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 277609. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.









