Salida is a census-designated place (CDP) in Stanislaus County, California in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 18,070. It ranks as the 4th most populous community in Stanislaus County. It is also part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. Cultivation of almonds has historically been a significant activity in the vicinity, including a major Blue Diamond processing facility nearby . In fact, this plant is involved exclusively in processing whole brown almond kernels with a "dry" process involving no water, heat or chemicals. Salida is within the East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District which comprises 984 square miles (2,550 km) of land area and attends to a variety of environmental conservation and best management agricultural practices. While Salida is named for the Spanish word meaning "exit", the name is customarily pronounced according to English phonetics, as Sah-LIE-duh, rather than according to Spanish phonetics, Sah-LEETH-ah is in Colorado. Salida will be home to their first high school Joseph Gregori High School, which is on schedule to open in Fall 2010.