Living in Palm Desert, CA
Small city in California
Palm Desert is a small city in California, home to about 52,000 people, with 493,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, most trips are by car. Life moves at a relaxed pace, and homes are mostly apartments.
Is Palm Desert a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Sunny: more sunshine and clearer skies than most places
- Easy flying: PSP is 11 mi away
- Safe: violent crime is 0.7× the US rate (FBI 2019)
- Great outdoors: hills or mountains nearby
👎 Cons
- Fewer family amenities than most places
- Hot summers: highs around 104°F
- Higher taxes: about $3,279 state income tax per resident, 0.92% property tax
- Fewer graduates: 40% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Palm Desert ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Palm Desert: common questions
What is the cost of living in Palm Desert?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $606k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $2,910 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are above the US average (index 106, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Palm Desert?
California collects about $3,279 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.92% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Palm Desert safe?
Violent crime is well below the national rate (0.7× in FBI 2019 data).
What is the weather like in Palm Desert?
Palm Desert is warm all year: winter days average around 71°F and summer days around 104°F.
Does Palm Desert get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is high, mainly from flooding and earthquakes: 11 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.99 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Palm Desert?
The nearest major airport is PSP, about 11 mi away.
How Palm Desert scores
Each bar compares Palm Desert with the other 1143 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
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Is Palm Desert right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.