Sky Valley, California and Little San Bernardino Mountains from Indio Hills, 2025
Sky Valley’s story
Sky Valley in pictures
The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2025 and 3 maps from 1941 on.
Explore the history →Sky ValleyCA
A town of 2,255.
Population
2,255
Census survey, 2020–24
Median home value
$148K
Census ACS
Household income
$51K
median
Median age
54.1
years
Jobs based here
257
A commuter town
Is Sky Valley a good place to live?
Sky Valley’s best subject grades are an A− for cost of living and an A for the outdoors; its weakest is a D for hazard risk. 23% of the land in Sky Valley is conserved, above both California’s towns (4.3%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Only 54 of California’s 1,063 towns score lower on history. Sky Valley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Sky Valley stand out
Where Sky Valley beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
A commuter town
96% of working residents leave Sky Valley for work
Where Sky Valley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
257jobs based in Sky Valley
4%of working residents work in town
18 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
How Sky Valley grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Sky Valley is from typical.
Hazard riskearthquakes tops the listDOpen →Jobs & income$51K median household incomeDOpen →Cost of livingTypical home $148K, 1.7 years of the Riverside metro’s $90K median household incomeA−Open →HealthLess healthy than 81% of U.S. towns; Eisenhower Medical Center 9.5 miles awayC−Open →WalkabilityEPA walkability 5.6 of 20; 2.3% of households have no car; 5% of workers walk, bike or ride transitBOpen →SchoolsBehind 57% of California districts on tests and graduationC+Open →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Nearby attractions
All 39 attractions →Joshua Tree National Park and 19 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sky Valley. Close and well known come first.
Big draw2 mi National ParkJoshua Tree National Park2.9M visitors a year
8 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Arena7 mi LandmarkForest Lawn Cemetery
19 mi MountainSan Jacinto Peak
31 mi MountainSan Gorgonio Mountain
26 mi National forestSan Bernardino National ForestSources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
Joshua Tree National Park: Sergiy Galyonkin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Acrisure Arena: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0 · San Jacinto Peak: Wattewyl, CC BY 3.0 · San Gorgonio Mountain: Doc Searls, CC BY-SA 2.0 · San Bernardino National Forest: Scottthezombie (talk) (Transferred by JaumeBG/Originally uploaded by Scottthezom, CC BY-SA 3.0
Getting set up
Moving to Sky Valley: who provides what
Sky Valley is unincorporated, so Riverside County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerImperial Irrigation District18.7¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterCoachella Vwd: I.d. No. 8 water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
InternetProviders and speedsData pending · D4
Trash & county servicesRiverside CountyRiverside County provides services here
Register to voteOnlineIn California you can register online until 15 days before Election Day, in person up to and including Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 15 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereRiverside Registrar of VotersRiverside County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Sep 2025
ZIP code9224192241 100%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Sky Valley.
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade D
Sky Valley has a very high natural-hazard risk, chiefly from earthquakes
The FEMA hazard score for Sky Valley comes to 89 of 100. FEMA puts 70% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to earthquakes, and 29% to inland flooding.
89risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
EarthquakesInland flooding
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
HealthC−
Compared with most of California and the rest of the country, more of Sky Valley’s adults have diabetes
30% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Sky Valley, where California’s towns sit at 22% and U.S. towns at 19%. Sky Valley: 44% of adults have high blood pressure.
19%healthier than U.S. townsC−Health Grade
| Sky Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 31% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 22% | 19% |
32 measures vs. California
6 better10 too close to call16 worse
| What stands out | Sky Valley | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 12.1% | 15.3% |
| More adults screened for colon cancer | 65% | 57.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 10% | 5.1% |
Eisenhower Medical Center
9.5 mi away · emergency room
None
primary care, dental or mental-health shortage
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Work & commuteJobs & income grade D
With only 0.3 jobs per working resident, most people in Sky Valley work out of town
Half the trips to work are shorter than 18 miles. Since 2013, Sky Valley has added 96 jobs, to 257 in 2023. For most workers, Sky Valley is a place to come home to: only 4% work in town. The average trip to work in the town is 34 minutes.
4%work in town
| Sky Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.4% | 6.6% | 8% |
Where working residents work
In Sky Valley4%
Palm Springs9%
Palm Desert8%
Indio6%
Rancho Mirage5%
18 mi
median commute distance
257
jobs based in Sky Valley
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
B
Walkability grade: more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
OutdoorsA
Sky Valley has set aside 23.2% of its land for conservation
There are 38 miles of trail across 3 parks and preserves. For Sky Valley, the concentration of trails is 1.6 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves in the town: 3, covering 29 acres.
23.2%conserved
23.2%
conserved · 3,596 of 15,496 acres
38 mi
of trails · 1.6 per sq mi
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Joshua Tree National Park | — | 14 |
| 2. Joshua Tree Wilderness | — | 13 |
| 3. Smoke Tree Pond | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Climate
In Sky Valley, a typical July afternoon runs hotter than in the typical California or U.S. town
Sky Valley brings warm winters and scorching summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 105°, January nights drop to 47° and snow is almost unheard of.
105°summer high
Typical low → high °F
Winter47–68°
Spring58–83°
Summer76–104°
Fall63–87°
+1.8°
vs. the 20th-century average
105°
typical summer high
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
HousingCost of living grade A−
Homes in Sky Valley sell for about $430K
Only 6 of the 834 California towns we compare have a lower rent at the middle of the market than Sky Valley. 84% of households live in a home they own in the town.
$430Kmedian sale price
| Sky Valley | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $863 a month | $1,896 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 84% | 64% | 73% |
1
homes sold in May
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Sky Valley
17pages on Sky Valley
The big questions
Out and about
The story
Day to day
After high school
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Sky Valley
California Indian Nations CollegeCommunity college · Public · Palm Desert8.1 mi$7,743 in-state tuitionCollege of the DesertCommunity college · Public · Palm Desert11.2 mi$1,326 in-state tuition
About 7 of every 100 Sky Valley residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
Sky Valley’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Sky Valley.
Thousand PalmsSky Valley
How the neighbors grade
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sky Valley | — | — | A− | — | C+ | C− |
| Thousand Palms | #536 | C− | C+ | — | C+ | C− |
Sky Valley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Sky Valley and Thousand Palms report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sky Valley with a neighbor →
Questions about Sky Valley
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Sky Valley, CA expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $148,000, 81% 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 A−.