What salary do you need to live in Modesto, CA?

The cost side of living in Modesto

Renters in Modesto pay a median $1,554 a month for two bedrooms. Size matters: one bedroom is $1,167, three bedrooms $1,802, so going from the smallest to the largest of the three adds $7,620 a year.

The median value of owner-occupied homes in the metro is $450,100. Local median household income is $81,468, so the median home is 5.5× a typical income — high enough that ownership weighs heavily in the score unless income is well above the median.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Modesto's overall prices at 104.1 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $96,054 would elsewhere.

Income needed for each grade in Modesto

For two bedrooms, $255,000 is where Modesto turns Comfortable. Below that, $127,000 marks the start of Okay and $63,000 the start of Tight; under $63,000 the score reads Stretched. Rent at the Comfortable line is 7% of gross pay.

Reaching Royal takes $807,000 — 3.2× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

Nothing here is a separate rule of thumb; plug any of these incomes into the calculator with two bedrooms and Modesto shows the matching grade.

What different incomes look like in Modesto

On $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 34 and a three-bedroom 28, both Tight; the extra bedrooms cost points but not a grade.

Comfortable is above every row of the table here. At $150,000 a two-bedroom still grades Okay, with rent taking 12% of income.

Where Modesto falls nationally

On price level Modesto is 35th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 61st, and on median home value 49th. Rent and overall prices don't line up exactly, with prices among the priciest tenth and rent in the top quarter.

Its nearest neighbors on the rent list are Bozeman, MT ($1,562) and Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV ($1,553).

Comparing Modesto with California

Statewide, California's median two-bedroom rent is $2,103 and its median home value $734,700. Modesto's rent is −26% against that, and its home value −39%; the price parity is 104.1 versus 110.7 for the state.

Scored the same way, the statewide figures turn Comfortable at $439,000, so Modesto needs $184,000 less than California overall.

The nearest matches in California, judged on rent and price parity together, are Stockton-Lodi, CA, Chico, CA, and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA.

Does the typical Modesto income clear the bar?

The median household in the metro earns $81,468 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 32, Tight. That falls $173,532 short of the $255,000 Comfortable line, a reminder that the typical household here spends a larger share on housing than the Comfortable band allows. Statewide, the California median household ($99,122) grades Stretched on the state's own medians. Keep in mind a household median often combines two incomes.

All figures are pre-tax estimates from public data, not financial advice.