Photo: Visitor7 · CC BY-SA 3.0Palm Desert has higher unemployment (6.4%) than 78% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Palm Desert; the top destination outside it is Rancho Mirage (10%, 4 miles). Jobs and income earn Palm Desert B−; getting around on foot earns it B+. The average commute takes 21 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Palm Desert: the figures worth knowing
Palm Desert is where the jobs are
Palm Desert has 26,613 jobs, 1.5 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Palm Desert are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Palm Desert’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palm Desert is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #540 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Palm Desert’s grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palm Desert could be anywhere from C to B.
Who commutes out of Palm Desert, and who commutes in
On a workday 14,010 residents head out to work, 3,720 work right here, and 22,893 people come in from elsewhere.
About 62,000 people are in Palm Desert on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The trip to work from Palm Desert: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palm Desert workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 17,507 commuters (the 15% 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.
Where in the region Palm Desert works
About 35% 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.
Commuting in to Palm Desert: where workers come from
Where Palm Desert clocks in
10% of workers
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.
The 26,613 jobs based in Palm Desert
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palm Desert, 2013 → 2023: 23,848 → 26,613. 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 Palm Desert’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Palm Desert, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palm Desert is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #482 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 20,568 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 40% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.9% of Palm Desert households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Palm Desert’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Palm Desert ranks: 617th of 850 U.S. towns of 37,000 to 72,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 615 | Casper WY | 58,771 | $70K | 10.8% | 4.1% | 60% | B− |
| 616 | Essex MD | 40,580 | $67K | 12.6% | 6.2% | 4% | B− |
| 617 | Palm Desert CA | 53,259 | $78K | 11.0% | 6.4% | 21% | B− |
| 618 | Elkhart Township IN | 38,435 | $64K | 16.2% | 3.6% | 37% | B− |
| 619 | Fond du Lac WI | 44,541 | $62K | 12.4% | 4.4% | 44% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 850 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Palm Desert, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns next door employ 14% of Palm Desert
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palm Desert workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Desert | – | B− | B+ | 21 min | $77,513 |
| Indian Wells | 2% | A− | A | 19 min | $162,990 |
| Rancho Mirage | 10% | B− | B+ | 25 min | $107,364 |
| Thousand Palms | 2% | B− | B | 22 min | $77,000 |
| Bermuda Dunes | under 3% | B | B+ | 21 min | $90,818 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Rancho Mirage. Darker towns draw more of Palm Desert’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Palm Desert: questions
What is the median household income in Palm Desert?
$77,513 (±$7,228) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palm Desert?
11.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palm Desert?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palm Desert work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rancho Mirage (10%, 4 mi), Palm Springs (7%, 11 mi), La Quinta (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palm Desert walkable?
Palm Desert is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palm Desert without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palm Desert, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palm Desert
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.