USMC-110513-M-ZU667-182, 2011
Desert Center’s story
92 years in pictures
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2011.
- 1934Desert Center is settled
Desert CenterCA
144 people live in this town, settled in 1934.
Photo: Bureau of Land Management California · Public domain
Population
144
Census survey, 2020–24
Median home value
$216K
Census ACS
Household income
$73K
median
Median age
45.5
years
Jobs based here
9
A commuter town
Is Desert Center a good place to live?
Desert Center’s average trip to work is 12 minutes, where California’s towns sit at 28 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. The biggest place to walk is Chuckwalla National Monument, 3,559 acres with 7.9 miles of trail. Desert Center has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
Small town
144 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Nearby attractions
All 12 attractions →Joshua Tree National Park and 6 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Desert Center. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi National ParkJoshua Tree National Park2.9M visitors a year
Big draw39 mi LakeSalton Sea
34 mi LandmarkSalvation Mountain
34 mi MountainNiland Geyser
39 mi LakeLake Cahuilla
21 mi MuseumGeneral George S. Patton Memorial MuseumSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
Joshua Tree National Park: Sergiy Galyonkin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Salton Sea: NASA, Public domain · Salvation Mountain: Joe Decruyenaere, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Niland Geyser: California Department of Transportation, Public domain · Lake Cahuilla: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · General George S. Patton Memorial Museum: Chris English, CC BY-SA 3.0
Getting set up
Moving to Desert Center: who provides what
Desert Center is unincorporated, so Riverside County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerSouthern California Edison31.5¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterCsa 51 water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
InternetProviders and speedsData pending · D4
Trash & county servicesRiverside CountyRiverside County provides services here
Register to voteOnlineIn California you can register online until 15 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereRiverside Registrar of VotersRiverside County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Sep 2025
ZIP code9223992239 100%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Desert Center.
Work & commute
Desert Center stands out in California and nationally: a larger share of its residents live below the poverty line
The top destinations are Blythe (33%), Indio (7%) and Palm Desert (5%). Half the trips to work are shorter than 50 miles.
0%work in town
Where working residents work
In Desert Center0%
Blythe33%
Indio7%
Palm Desert5%
San Diego4%
50 mi
median commute distance
9
jobs based in Desert Center
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Climate
In Desert Center, a typical July afternoon runs hotter than in the typical California or U.S. town
Expect warm winters and scorching summers in Desert Center, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 107°, January nights drop to 43° and snow is almost unheard of.
107°summer high
Typical low → high °F
Winter44–68°
Spring58–86°
Summer78–106°
Fall61–89°
+1.7°
vs. the 20th-century average
107°
typical summer high
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Natural hazards
Top of a high hazard risk in Desert Center: inland flooding
Just over two fifths of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 33%. Desert Center’s FEMA hazard score stands at 63 of 100.
63risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingEarthquakesLandslides
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Health
How healthy Desert Center is
Desert Center: 20% of adults report frequent mental distress. Of 32 CDC measures, Desert Center beats the California average on 3 and trails it on 23. Only 3 of the 848 California towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Desert Center.
| Desert Center | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 22% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 12% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 24% | 25% |
32 measures vs. California
3 better6 too close to call23 worse
| What stands out | Desert Center | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 10.7% | 15.3% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 79.2% | 71.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 14.5% | 5.1% |
John F Kennedy Memorial Hospital
49.9 mi away · emergency room
None
primary care, dental or mental-health shortage
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Outdoors
Protected land: 1.3% of Desert Center
Trails total 9.6 miles in 1 park or preserve. Desert Center’s trail density comes in at 0.3 miles per square mile.
1.3%conserved
| Desert Center | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
1.3%
conserved · 247 of 19,397 acres
9.6 mi
of trails · 0.3 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chuckwalla National Monument | 7.9 mi | 3,559 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Desert Center
16pages on Desert Center
The big questions
Out and about
After high school
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Desert Center; the nearest are
Palo Verde CollegeCommunity college · Public · Blythe41.4 mi$1,288 in-state tuitionCalifornia State University-San MarcosUniversity or college · Public · San Marcos111.5 mi$8,082 in-state tuition
About 6 of every 100 Desert Center residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
A commuter town
100% of working residents leave Desert Center for work
Where Desert Center’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
9jobs based in Desert Center
0%of working residents work in town
50 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
About Desert Center
Census-designated place in California, United States
Desert Center is a census-designated place in the Colorado Desert in Riverside County, California. It is in southern California, between the cities of Indio and Blythe at the junction of Interstate 10 and State Route 177, about halfway between Phoenix and Los Angeles. The ZIP Code is 92239, and the community is in telephone area codes 442 and 760. The elevation is 656 feet (200 m). The population was 256 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 30 sq mi
- Elevation
- 656 ft
- ZIP code
- 92239
- Area code
- 760
Questions about Desert Center
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Desert Center, CA a good place to live?
Desert Center has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.