The phrase "a modest population of" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when describing a small or moderate number of individuals within a specific group or area.
Example: "The island is home to a modest population of rare bird species that attract researchers from around the world."
Alternatives: "a small number of" or "a limited population of".
Notably, hot extruded and cross-rolled plate subjected to plane strain deformation to ~50% engineering strain creates only a modest population of low angle grain boundaries, compared to the much larger population observed following the combination of plane strain and shear deformation of ~44% engineering strain resulting from subsequent hydrostatic extrusion.
By 1871 Burnside had grown significantly; it was now a mix of villages supporting a modest population of 1,557.
By this time the latter had a modest population of around 1,200 people, a castle and rudimentary fortifications.
My little border town boasts a modest population of around 25,000 folks, more than 96percentt of whom are Hispanic or Latino.
It's fair to say that the small island, with a modest population of 334,632, has turned into a popular holiday destination.
Canada's Arctic is an environment that, historically, could support only a modest population of hunter-gatherers per square kilometre.
This was accomplished using a modest population size of BC1S3 plants (n = 286) and the interval could be narrowed down further through genotyping at a higher number of loci and increasing the population size [ 56].
There were a few outlying cases — Los Angeles has very low hockey interest but a very large population, while Buffalo has a modest population but levels of hockey affinity that approach Canadian levels.
Some authorities claim that there were once more than a million individuals, while others suggest a more modest population of 100,000.
(They are also now retailing in Monaco, with a more modest population of less than 40,000 people, for what it's worth).
The large Altamaha River of Georgia supports a modest population (798 in 1990, 468 in 1993, as many as 2,000 in 2004) of shortnose sturgeon.
