Photo: Bureau of Land Management California · Public domainWith 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Desert Center works elsewhere
Employers in Desert Center report 9 jobs, and 85 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any work in Desert Center; the top destination outside it is Blythe (33%, 43 miles). 8% of workers work from home, against 17% across California.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Desert Center
On a workday 85 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 9 people come in from elsewhere.
About 68 people are in Desert Center on a workday afternoon, 53% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Desert Center: the destinations
Where Desert Center clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Desert Center
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Desert Center, 2013 → 2023: 5 → 9. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Desert Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 12 minutes in Desert Center
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Desert Center workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 47 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Desert Center’s commute, mile by mile
About 51% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Desert Center: questions
What is the median household income in Desert Center?
$73,393 (±$66,823) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Desert Center?
31.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Desert Center?
12 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Desert Center work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Blythe (33%, 43 mi), Indio (7%, 50 mi), Palm Desert (5%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Desert Center without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Desert Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Desert Center
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.