Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,992, settled in 1915.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 99% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Overall it grades B−, 213th among California's 841 graded towns. The median household earns $163K and it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $1.4 million for a typical one and 16.1 times the Riverside metro’s $90K median household income. Indian Wells’ typical home value is $1,448,000, above both the California town median ($709,000) and the median of U.S. towns ($332,000). Among 437 California towns, just one has a lower violent crime rate than Indian Wells. Desert Bel Air Showcase House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Indian Wells beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Indian Wells’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Indian Wells is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D− for hazard risk (better than 2%), so the B− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 760 in 1970, 4,757 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1976 and 4 maps from 1941 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Indian Wells. Close and well known come first.
Big draw13 mi National ParkJoshua Tree National Park2.9M visitors a year
Big draw38 mi LakeSalton Sea
6 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Arena
22 mi MountainSan Jacinto Peak10 mi LandmarkForest Lawn Cemetery
in town Zoo & aquariumLiving Desert Zoo and GardensJoshua Tree National Park: Sergiy Galyonkin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Salton Sea: NASA, Public domain · Acrisure Arena: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0 · San Jacinto Peak: Wattewyl, CC BY 3.0 · Living Desert Zoo and Gardens: Dsyrengelas at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Indian Wells, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Indian Wells.
Indian Wells is a second-home town, draws workers from Indio and beyond and keeps more of its land conserved than most of California.
At 16.1 years of the Riverside metro’s $90K median household income, the typical home (about $1.45M) costs more against local pay than in 94% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Home values rose 31% in five years, to about $1.45M, against 13% across California.
In Indian Wells, the typical rent is $1,088 a month. Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home gained 3.4% in value. Also worth knowing: among households here, 80% own their home.
| Indian Wells | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,088 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 80% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the Desert Sands Unified school district. Enrollment at Indian Wells’s public school: 598 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gerald R. Ford ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 598 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Its 4,057 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 97% of California towns.
The biggest park or preserve is Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, at 152 acres. Count the trails in 2 parks and preserves and they come to 57 miles. Indian Wells’ concentration of trails comes in at 3.9 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument | 5.2 mi | 4,366 |
| 2. Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center | — | 152 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3,543 jobs are based in Indian Wells, 2.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18.7 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
The top destinations are Palm Desert (19%), Rancho Mirage (8%) and La Quinta (5%). For workers in Indian Wells, the share who work from home is 36%. Half commute less than 13 miles. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Indian Wells dropped by 202, to 3,543.
| Indian Wells | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 36% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $163,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.2% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Indian Wells has had 54 paid flood insurance claims since 1978. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 77% come from inland flooding and 23% from earthquakes. Federal aid has come to Indian Wells households in 4 declared disasters; the latest was in 2023.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 1,984 U.S. towns with household incomes like Indian Wells’s, it is less healthy than 94%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
This California town beats the California average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. In Indian Wells, 28% of adults feel lonely. Nearly one in ten adults in Indian Wells binge drink; 50% have high blood pressure. Among 847 California towns, just 2 have a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than Indian Wells.
| Indian Wells | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 17% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 8.3% | 16% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 50% | 31% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 86% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Indian Wells | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.1% | 14.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.9% | 10.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 17.8% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Indio Fire Stn weather station, 7 miles away, records that about 184 days a year reach 90°, more than in 100% of U.S. towns. January nights average 45°, milder than in 97% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 106.4°.
Winters in Indian Wells are warm and summers scorching, with very little rain. Indian Wells’ January low stands at 45°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Indian Wells | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 106°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 45°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes fell from 121 to 60 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Within California, it does better than 73% of towns. For Indian Wells, the rate of thefts and burglaries is 11.7 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
2 within 15 miles of the center of Indian Wells
About 2 of every 100 Indian Wells residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
City in California, United States
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley. Incorporated in 1967, it lies in between the cities of Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 4,757. The city hosts the sixth-largest tennis tournament in the world, the Indian Wells Masters tennis tournament, presently known as the BNP Paribas Open. The Indian Wells Masters is one of nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments operated by the Association of Tennis Professionals, and one of the four mandatory WTA 1000 tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association. It is held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which contains the second-largest tennis-specific stadium in th…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Indian Wells.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Wells | #213 | B− | C− | C+ | B | B+ |
| Palm Desert | #584 | D | D− | C− | B | B |
| La Quinta | #566 | D | D− | C | C+ | B |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Indian Wells grades B− overall, better than 49% of U.S. towns and #213 of 841 in California. It grades B+ for health, C+ for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within California, it does better than 73% of towns.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
