117 years in pictures
Census counts: 1,058 in 1980, 1,729 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2023 and 3 maps from 1940 on.
- 1909Seeley is settled
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,182, settled in 1909.
Seeley’s best subject grade is an A for the outdoors; its weakest is a D for hazard risk. 13% of the land in Seeley is conserved, where California’s towns sit at 4.3% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. The biggest park or preserve is Sunbeam Lake County Park, at 68 acres. Seeley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Seeley beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Seeley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,058 in 1980, 1,729 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2023 and 3 maps from 1940 on.
Seeley is unincorporated, so Imperial County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Seeley.
Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 89% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the Seeley Union Elementary school district. Enrollment at the town’s public school: 325 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seeley ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 325 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
The top destinations are El Centro (20%), San Diego (7%) and Imperial (6%). Seeley: 1% of working residents work locally. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 75, to 102. Half of commuters travel less than 15 miles.
| Seeley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Among adults in Seeley, 29% worry about having enough food and 35% get no exercise outside work. CDC measures, 32 in all: Seeley beats California on 1 and trails on 14. The share of adults 18 to 64 in Seeley who have no health insurance is 20%, above both California’s towns (9%) and U.S. towns (8.1%). In Seeley, just over two in five adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Seeley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 9% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 22% | 19% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 16% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Seeley | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.2% | 6.4% |
| More uninsured adults | 19.6% | 10.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The seasons in Seeley: warm winters, scorching summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 108°, January nights drop to 44° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Trails total 0.9 miles in 2 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails in Seeley is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sunbeam Lake County Park | 0.6 mi | 68 |
| 2. Robert Bates Memorial Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For households in Seeley, the share who live in a home they own is 52%. The town’s midpoint rent is $1,100 a month.
| Seeley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 52% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,100 a month | $1,896 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Seeley
About 7 of every 100 Seeley residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
Where Seeley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in California, United States
Seeley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Imperial County, California. Seeley is located 7.5 miles (12 km) west of El Centro. The population was 1,729 at the 2020 census, down from 1,739 at the 2010 census. It is part of the El Centro Metropolitan Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $198,000, 74% below the California typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.