Ceres, California.
Typical home $447,899 (+0.2% in a year), asking rent $1,960 . Modesto, CA metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,214 (+107%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $1,053 +0%
- $446,846$447,899 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $51,831 +13%
- $396,068$447,899 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Ceres$2,351
- California$3,997
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 28 years.
Typical home values in Ceres, CA rose 0.2% over the past year — slower than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Ceres, Stanislaus County, California
Ceres is a city of 49,302 people in Stanislaus County. Half its households earn more than $79,025 a year and half less, against $81,468 across Stanislaus County; 16% of its people live below the poverty line. 64% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 36% are rented. Unemployment in Ceres was 8.1% in August 2026, and Stanislaus County had about as many jobs in 2025 as the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Ceres is a city in Stanislaus County, in California's Central Valley. It is a younger place than most, with a lower median age than many towns its size, and more of its households own their homes than rent. Incomes run a little below the county's, and fewer adults hold a four-year degree than is typical. Winters are mild and cool, with January the coldest month, and summers are hot, with July the warmest. The year brings little rain and almost no snow.
Work. Many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, in manufacturing, and in professional and business services. Ceres Unified, Stanislaus County and Walmart are among the largest workplaces in the city. Unemployment is higher than it is in many parts of the country, and it has barely changed from a year ago. The typical commute is a long one, and few people work from home.
Things to do. Dry Creek and Ceres River Bluff Regional Park are in or beside town, for walks and time outdoors. A short drive away are Graceada Park, a park, and the Gallo Center for the Arts, a theatre. Farther afield, the Tuolumne River and the Stanislaus River are a longer drive away.
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- 13,943households
- 13%of adults have a degree
- 16%below the poverty line
- 34 mintypical commute
- 6%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Stanislaus County had 199,343 jobs in 2025, about as many as the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 56° and lows near 39°; warmest in July, with highs near 95° and lows near 63°. About 12 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Modesto City County Airport weather station, 2 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Ceres
- Ceres UnifiedSchool district1,512FTE
- Stanislaus CountySocial service centers, multipurpose1,050
- Stanislaus CountySheriffs' offices840
- NGB ConstructionConstruction management, single-family building543
- Winco FoodsWarehouse/distribution center414
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters412
- UPSCouriers and express delivery services296
- G3 Enterprises, Inc. - Label DivisionPrint shops, flexographic134
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 33 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 5,220 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Earthquakesrelatively high in parts of CeresRelatively moderate
- Heat wavesRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Ceres’ census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Stanislaus County and the Modesto, CA metro.
Ceres home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Ceres$447,899
- California$761,538
- United States$366,157
Levy by levy, and a check of one home’s own bill, the site covers Ohio’s property tax.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Ceres listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Ceres26.96%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Ceres43
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Ceres17
Zip codes with a Ceres address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Ceres — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.