California

Distance from Modesto to Salinas

Straight-line distance

74.1mi

Modesto, CA and Salinas, CA are 74.1 miles (119.3 km) apart in a straight line. From Modesto, the shortest path starts out heading SSW (208°).

kilometers
119.3
nautical miles
64.4
heading from Modesto
208° SSW
heading from Salinas
28° NNE
ModestoSalinas

Orange line: great-circle path · ring: midpoint · thin lines: county borders

How far Modesto is from Salinas

The great-circle distance between the Census internal points of Modesto and Salinas is 74.1 miles, 119.3 km or 64.4 nautical miles. That is the shortest path over the Earth's surface, computed with the haversine formula on a sphere with the mean Earth radius, 6,371.0 km. A course held on one compass bearing (a rhumb line) would be 74.1 miles, practically the same at this range.

Measurements

Miles
74.1
Kilometers
119.3
Nautical miles
64.4
Bearing from Modesto
208.1° SSW
Bearing arriving at Salinas
207.8°
Bearing from Salinas
27.8° NNE

Halfway between Modesto and Salinas

The great-circle midpoint is at 37.164268, -121.320377 (37°09'51.36"N 121°19'13.36"W). The nearest incorporated place of 1,000 or more people is Morgan Hill, CA, with 45,952 residents, 17.8 miles from the midpoint. To find towns near the midpoint of any two places, use the halfway tool.

Time zones and daylight

Both use America/Los_Angeles, so there is no time difference. On June 21, Modesto gets 14 h 46 min of daylight and Salinas 14 h 40 min; on December 21, 9 h 34 min and 9 h 39 min. Modesto is 0.95° farther north, so it has the longer summer days and the shorter winter ones.

Population compared

Modesto has 1.4 times the population of Salinas. From July 2020 to July 2024, Modesto changed by +0.9% and Salinas by -1.6%. Both are in California.

  1. 01Modesto, CA220,592 (+0.9%)
  2. 02Salinas, CA160,783 (-1.6%)
July 1, 2024 population and change since July 2020, Census Vintage 2024.

Questions people ask

How far is Modesto from Salinas?

74.1 miles, 119.3 km or 64.4 nautical miles along the great circle between the two Census internal points. Road distance is longer.

Which direction is Salinas from Modesto?

SSW. The great-circle path leaves Modesto on a bearing of 208.1° and arrives at Salinas on 207.8°. The return trip starts on 27.8°.

What is halfway between Modesto and Salinas?

The midpoint is at 37.164268, -121.320377. The nearest incorporated place of 1,000+ is Morgan Hill, CA, 17.8 miles from it.

Is there a time difference between Modesto and Salinas?

Both use America/Los_Angeles, so there is no time difference.

Which is bigger, Modesto or Salinas?

Modesto, with 220,592 residents in July 2024 against 160,783 for Salinas, 1.4 times as many.

Sources and data as of

Data as of: Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and Vintage 2024 estimates; time zones from Open-Meteo.

  1. 01Census 2024 Gazetteer, places
  2. 02Census Vintage 2024 subcounty population estimates
  3. 03SunCalc library (Vladimir Agafonkin), algorithms after Jean Meeus
  4. 04IANA time zone database (clock times and daylight saving rules)

How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.