Modesto, CA: 553,990 residents, 105th of 387 US metropolitan areas. It helps to know the ground before spending a marketing dollar; the numbers below are the ground.
The metropolitan statistical area is centered on Modesto, California.
Money first: median household income in the Modesto metro is $81,468, in line with the national figure. The typical owner-occupied home is valued at $450,100, 35 percent above the national figure. Both figures matter for pricing and for which offers land.
The civilian labor force numbers 261,978 people with unemployment at 8%, 3 points above the US share. Owner-occupied housing 61.2%, 4 points below the US share, which is the figure home-service advertisers should watch. 19.6% of adults over 25 hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 16 points below the US share. Modesto, CA has a median age of 34.9 (4 years below the national median).
Compared with California: income is 18 percent lower than the California figure, home values are 39 percent lower than the California figure, and business density is 31 percent thinner than the California figure.
How crowded is the market overall? Modesto, CA has 10,013 employer establishments. Relative to population, 18.1 per 1,000 residents, 28 percent below the national figure. 518 of them are home-services contractors, 5.2% of everything, about the same as the US share.
| Trade (NAICS) | Count | Per 100,000 | Index vs US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal services | 141 | 25.5 | 0.65× |
| Beauty salons | 77 | 13.9 | 0.76× |
| Landscaping services | 114 | 20.6 | 0.81× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 10 | 1.8 | 0.90× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 152 | 27.4 | 0.93× |
| Child day care services | 94 | 17 | 0.96× |
| Personal care services (all) | 184 | 33.2 | 0.96× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 146 | 26.4 | 1.10× |
| Physicians' offices | 287 | 51.8 | 1.10× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 31 | 5.6 | 1.11× |
| Electrical contractors | 120 | 21.7 | 1.20× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 888 | 160.3 | 1.20× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 64 | 11.6 | 1.25× |
| Automobile dealers | 78 | 14.1 | 1.38× |
| Roofing contractors | 43 | 7.8 | 1.41× |
| General automotive repair | 154 | 27.8 | 1.52× |
| Dentists | 248 | 44.8 | 1.53× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 186 | 33.6 | 1.55× |
| Self-storage facilities | 37 | 6.7 | 1.66× |
| General freight trucking | 380 | 68.6 | 2.71× |
The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).
More common here than nationally: general freight trucking, self-storage operators, grocery stores and dentists. At the top of that list, general freight trucking number 380, 2.7 times the US share. Less common here than nationally: legal services, beauty salons and landscaping services. Legal services are the thinnest at 141, about 65% of the national share. Neither crowded nor thin: plumbing and HVAC contractors, concrete contractors and road and paving contractors.
Three categories dominate by count: restaurants at 888, general freight trucking at 380 and physicians' offices at 287. Scaled to residents, restaurants run 160.3 per 100,000, more than general freight trucking or physicians' offices. Across the groups, trucking, storage, real estate and road construction run 1.7 times the US share and legal services about 65% of.
With general freight trucking, self-storage operators and grocery stores over-indexed, the cost of a click rises and so does the value of everything that happens after it: a page that loads fast, a number that is answered, a review profile that settles the comparison. Scarcity in legal services, beauty salons and landscaping services cuts the other way: fewer rivals per search, cheaper clicks, and a chance to become the default answer in the map results with a modest, steady effort. With a median age 4 years below the national median, expect more discovery through maps, short video and AI answers; search alone covers less of the market. At 61.2% owner-occupied, more residents rent than in the typical US market. Consumer home-services demand is thinner per household, and property managers become a worthwhile audience.
Where to start in Modesto, CA, based on the competition profile above.
Management of the Google listing that decides the map pack.
Ranking for the service-and-town searches without paying per click.
A clean, fast site with one job: make the call happen.
Service and area pages written to answer real questions.
Being the answer when people ask an AI assistant who to call in Modesto, CA.
Search campaigns built around the searches people in Modesto, CA actually type, with the geography fenced to where the work is.
Modesto, CA has 553,990 residents (US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimate), ranking 105th of 387 metropolitan areas.
The median household income in Modesto, CA is $81,468 (ACS 2024 5-year), above the US median of $80,734.
The Census Bureau counts 10,013 employer establishments in Modesto, CA (County Business Patterns 2023), or 18.1 businesses per 1,000 residents.
The median home value in Modesto, CA is $450,100, and 61.2% of homes are owner-occupied (ACS 2024 5-year).
Measured against the US business mix (County Business Patterns 2023), general freight trucking, self-storage operators and grocery stores have more establishments per resident than the US average; legal services, beauty salons and landscaping services have fewer in Modesto, CA.
Tell us the trade and the area; we will show you what the competition looks like and what it takes to be found.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023. Updated 2026-09-29.