Photo: Ranchomirageca · CC BY-SA 4.0Rancho Mirage’s library logs 9.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Rancho Mirage Public Library serves Rancho Mirage’s 16,992 residents. Last year it lent 318K books, movies and e-books and logged 167K visits.
The short version on Rancho Mirage’s library
More library cards than residents
34,773 cards for 16,992 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Rancho Mirage ranks 2nd in California for kids’ borrowing
Out of 117 California towns with a library of their own, Rancho Mirage comes 2nd for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #9 for borrowing and #9 for library use. How it compares ↓
Rancho Mirage uses its library more than almost any town its size
Rancho Mirage Public Library logs 9.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
52,000 people came to the library’s 676 programs last year: 3.1 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Rancho Mirage’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rancho Mirage is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #107 of 448 in California. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
92 community nonprofits are registered in Rancho Mirage
5.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Rancho Mirage’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical California town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Rancho Mirage’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Rancho Mirage last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rancho Mirage Public Library serves 16,992 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 123 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
318K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 80K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
86,701 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rancho Mirage Public Library, 71-100 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rancho Mirage? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rancho Mirage cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $4.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.8M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 34,773 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Mirage | Rancho Mirage Public Library fine-free | 18.7 | 54 | B |
| Palm Springs | Palm Springs Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 47 | C+ |
| Cathedral City | Cathedral City Branch Library fine-free | — | 42 | D− |
| Palm Desert | Palm Desert Branch Library fine-free | — | 55 | C |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Rancho Mirage
Does Rancho Mirage have a public library?
Yes. Rancho Mirage Public Library, 71-100 Highway 111, serves Rancho Mirage’s 16,992 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rancho Mirage Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rancho Mirage’s library?
It logged 9.9 visits and lent 18.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rancho Mirage’s civic life grade?
B Rancho Mirage is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #107 of 448 in California. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Rancho Mirage.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.