H-beta zeolite was modified by the ion exchange method to replace its H ions with Ce ions. The catalytic performance of this cerium exchanged beta zeolite was evaluated for vapor phase transalkylation of 1,2,4 TMB (1,2,4 trimethylbenzene) with toluene for the production of xylene in a fixed bed, down-flow reactor. The modified zeolite was found to be highly active for this transalkylation reaction. The response surface methodology (RSM) is used for designing the experiments. The effect of three important reaction parameters viz. temperature, reactant ratio, and space time on response variables (toluene conversion and xylene selectivity) is studied and discussed. All the three selected reaction parameters were found to be significant for the toluene conversion; whereas, xylene selectivity was not much influenced by the temperature. The optimum values of the reaction parameters predicted by the model (temperature: 409.7 degrees C, reactant ratio: 2.024, and space time: 4.451) were validated by an experimental run. The results of the experimental run were in close agreement with the model predicted results.