Stanislaus County is located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. As the price of housing increases in the San Francisco Bay Area, many commuters have moved to Stanislaus County. The county seat is Modesto. Stanislaus County was formed in 1854 and named for the Stanislaus River, in honor of a mission-educated renegade Native American chief. The county has a total area of 1,515 mi², 99% of it is land and 1% of it is water. As of 2000, there were 446,997 people, 145,146 households, and 109,585 families residing in the county.