Hot desert
Palm Desert, California
Riverside County, California · Population 52k · 217 ft elevation
Living in Palm Desert
Palm Desert has a hot desert climate: scorching summers (July highs around 105°F) and very mild winters (January lows around 46°F).
Precipitation is very dry at about 3″ a year, and it essentially never sees snow.
Skies are exceptionally sunny (86% of possible sunshine). It never gets truly muggy.
Air quality is poor: a median AQI of 80, with about 109 unhealthy-air days in the latest year.
Palm Desert is an outdoor hub: about 63% of the land within 30 miles is public (parks, national forest and the like), and the terrain rises and falls about 5,300 ft around town.
Palm Desert at a glance
- Population
- 52k
- Elevation
- 217 ft
- Average daily high
- 87°F99th percentile
- Average daily low
- 63°F94th percentile
- Annual precipitation
- 3″0th percentile
- Annual snowfall
- 0″0th percentile
- Sunshine hours per year
- 3,846 hrs98th percentile
- Median AQI
- 8099th percentile
- Median home value
- $492k81th percentile
- Median rent
- $1,717/mo77th percentile
- Median household income
- $80k55th percentile
- Property tax rate
- 0.92%46th percentile
- Top state income-tax rate
- 13.3%
- Sales tax (state + local)
- 8.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.1%
- Homes with broadband
- 91%49th percentile
- Walkability index
- 10.972th percentile
- Average commute
- 22 min
- Math proficiency (8th grade)
- 28%22th percentile
- Reading proficiency (8th grade)
- 46%
- Violent crime rate
- 138 per 100k41th percentile
- Property crime rate
- 2,095 per 100k
- Overall natural-hazard risk
- 10093th percentile
- Outdoor access
- 9998th percentile
- Public land within 10 miles
- 50%
- Public land within 30 miles
- 63%
- Mountain relief within 30 miles
- 5,348 ft
Climate by month
| Month | High | Low | Precipitation | Snow | Sunshine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 70°F | 46°F | 0.7″ | — | 249 hrs |
| Feb | 73°F | 50°F | 0.6″ | — | 235 hrs |
| Mar | 79°F | 56°F | 0.3″ | — | 307 hrs |
| Apr | 85°F | 62°F | 0.1″ | — | 336 hrs |
| May | 92°F | 69°F | 0.0″ | — | 387 hrs |
| Jun | 101°F | 76°F | 0.0″ | — | 407 hrs |
| Jul | 105°F | 82°F | 0.1″ | — | 395 hrs |
| Aug | 104°F | 82°F | 0.3″ | — | 381 hrs |
| Sep | 100°F | 76°F | 0.1″ | — | 337 hrs |
| Oct | 90°F | 65°F | 0.1″ | — | 311 hrs |
| Nov | 77°F | 52°F | 0.2″ | — | 262 hrs |
| Dec | 68°F | 45°F | 0.5″ | — | 240 hrs |
Near Palm Desert
- Indian Wells, CA · 4.8k
- Rancho Mirage, CA · 17k
- Bermuda Dunes, CA · 8.1k
- Desert Palms, CA · 6.5k
- Thousand Palms, CA · 7.7k
- Indio, CA · 91k
- La Quinta, CA · 38k
- Cathedral City, CA · 52k
Largest places in California
- Los Angeles, CA · 3.9M
- San Diego, CA · 1.4M
- San Jose, CA · 990k
- San Francisco, CA · 836k
- Fresno, CA · 544k
- Sacramento, CA · 525k
- Long Beach, CA · 458k
- Oakland, CA · 438k
Sources: NOAA climate normals, NASA POWER, EPA air quality, U.S. Census Bureau, FEMA, FBI, EPA walkability and EDFacts. Methodology