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Palm Desert, California

Palm Desert is a tourist town of about 53,000 people in Riverside County, California. It has grown about 4% since 2020. A typical home costs about 7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Riverside, is about 61 miles away as the crow flies.

Tourist townSmall city

Population
53,259
up 4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$542,000
Riverside County prices up 11% since 2022
Household income
$77,513
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Riverside area
106.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
4 miles
Rancho Mirage, CA
To Riverside
61 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 6.4% above the U.S. average in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood74 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 20.9 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town9 public schools: 6 elementary, 2 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byEisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, about 4 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRiverside is about 61 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Palm Desert meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Tourist town. About 1 in 4 homes is a vacation or seasonal home, a sign of a visitor economy. More restaurants, shops and weekend events than locals alone could support, with the small-town basics intact.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$542,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 11%Riverside County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,778 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$77,513U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
65%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$4,660 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
1%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
6%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
27%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
106.4U.S. average = 100 (the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 11% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area, not Palm Desert alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
53,2592020: 51,193
Median age
57.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
38%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
13%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
41%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
8%U.S.: 6%
College students
6%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (20%); schools, health care and social services (19%); professional and business services (16%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
15%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Eisenhower Medical Center, Rancho Mirage, CA, about 4 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

9 public schools in Palm Desert, run by Desert Sands Unified and Palm Springs Unified.

Colleges in or next to town: College of the Desert (10,000 to 19,999 students); California Indian Nations College (under 1,000 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on California's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
78%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
91%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
47°F
July average high
106°F
Days 90°F or hotter
184 a year
Nights at or below freezing
1 a year
Rain and melted snow
2.9 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
177 feet

Weather station: Indio Fire Stn (9 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Eisenhower Medical Center, Indio, Riverside.

Riverside County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Joshua Tree National Park12 miles

Read about Palm Desert's history on Wikipedia.

Know Palm Desert?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Indio Hills, CA (unincorporated)1,117 people, 10 miles
  • Sky Valley, CA (unincorporated)2,255 people, 11 miles
  • Vista Santa Rosa, CA (unincorporated)2,333 people, 12 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.