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Community Profile: Indian Wells

Intersection in Indian Wells
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USC - Lift to Rise Partnership

The Neighborhood Data for Social Change (NDSC) platform is a project of the USC Price Center for Social Innovation. Lift To Rise is partnering with The Price Center in the development of the Neighborhood Data for Social Change (NDSC) platform for the Coachella Valley. Lift to Rise is a community-based partnership in the Coachella Valley with the primary goal of advancing a future where all Coachella Valley families are healthy, stable, and thriving. NDSC will publish an ongoing series of data stories that incorporate maps, data visualizations, photos, and rich narrative to highlight trends, opportunities, and challenges facing communities in the region.

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Community profiles provide insight and information to the nine cities and unincorporated places in the Coachella Valley. The profiles provide precise, relevant data at the community level in combination with interactive maps and visualizations to help community members learn about the most important issues facing their communities and to help policy makers make informed decisions for their constituents. Community profiles are updated annually with the latest data, with new profiles released on a regular basis.

Indian Wells is an incorporated City in the Coachella Valley that lies between Palm Desert and La Quinta. Native Americans first settled the area that is now the City of Indian Wells around a hand-built well, which is how the city derived its name. As early as 1823 the name “Indian Wells” was written in the diaries of an explorer, Jose Romero, who was looking for a route to Tuscon, AZ. Later, when gold was discovered in the Colorado River, a trail was built from Los Angeles through the desert with Indian Wells becoming an important stop along the route. In the 1920s, Indian Wells began booming along with the date industry in the Coachella Valley. After the Indian Wells Hotel was built in 1957, the area soon became a thriving golf destination. As surrounding cities began to incorporate in the 1960s, community leaders in Indian Wells decided it was important they become a city of their own, eventually incorporating in 1967.

Indian Wells City Hall
The site of Indian Wells City Hall.

Today, Indian Wells is home to four world-class resorts and several sports venues. Several worldwide sports competitions are held here annually including the BNP Paribas Open, a tennis championship held at Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The City is also home to the popular Indian Wells Arts Festival that draws attendees from around the Coachella Valley.

Run course of a sports event in Indian Wells.
Running course of a sports event in Indian Wells.

As of 2018 estimates, the population of Indian Wells was 5,317 people with a median income of $104,522. Compared to the greater Coachella Valley, Indian Wells has a relatively older population, high rates of education with 57% of residents having graduated college, and very low uninsured rates (2%).

Explore the visualizations below to learn more about demography, housing, education, environment, health and social connectedness in Indian Wells and how the community compares to the state, county and other places in the Coachella Valley.

Demography

Indian Wells has a population of 5,317. The average household size is 1.92 people, slightly smaller than the average household size in Coachella Valley of 2.54.

33% of households in the City are either people living alone or with non-relatives, which are considered non-family households. This is slightly lower than the Coachella Valley average of 41%.

Race & Ethnicity

Indian Wells has a demographic make-up quite different from the rest of the Coachella Valley. Their Latinx population is just approximately 5%, compared to the Coachella Valley average of 51%. Furthermore, their White population, 90%, is over twice as large as the Coachella Valley average of 41%.

Immigration

Nearly 9% of Indian Wells' population are immigrants. This is less than half the immigrant population of the Coachella Valley (25%) and California (27%).

Nearly 53% of those immigrants are citizens which is 13 percentage points higher than average for the Coachella Valley (40%).

Select a community to see how immigrant population compares to Indian Wells.

Age Distribution

The population in Indian Wells is generally older than the average in the Coachella Valley. 59% of the population is 65 and older, meanwhile this age group makes up just under 23% of the population for the greater Coachella Valley.

Hover over the chart on the right to see how age distribution in the Coachella Valley, CA and the US compares to Indian Wells.

Education & Insurance

Graduation Rates

College graduation rates are high in Indian Wells compared to the rest of the Coachella Valley. 57% of Indian Wells residents have a college degree, which is more than twice as high as the Coachella Valley average of 24%.

Furthermore, most people in Indian Wells have at least a high school diploma. Only 3% of people in Indian Wells have less than a high school diploma. This is more than 5 times lower than the Coachella Valley average of 19%.

Select a community to see how college graduation rates and less than high school diploma rates compare to Indian Wells.

Health Insurance

The uninsured population rate in the Coachella Valley at nearly 12%, higher than in CA and the US, which are both around 9%. However, the uninsured population in Indian Wells is very low, around 2%.

Select a community to see how uninsured population rates compare to Indian Wells.

Employment

Median Income

The median household income in Indian Wells is $104,55. Almost twice as high as the median household income in the Coachella Valley of $53,539.

Labor Force Participation Rate

The labor force participation rate in Indian Wells is relatively low compared to the rest of the Coachella Valley. In Indian Wells, the labor force participation rate is nearly 36% compared with 55% in the Coachella Valley.

Select a community to see how labor force participation rates compare to Indian Wells.

Housing/Real Estate

Household Overcrowding

Household overcrowding is defined as having more than one person per room in a household. In Indian Wells, the percent of households who are overcrowded is very low, at 0.3%, compared to the Coachella Valley average of 6%.

Median Gross Rent

Median gross rent in Indian Wells is low when compared to the Coachella Valley average. At $861 per month, it is $270 lower per month than the Coachella Valley average of $1,132.

Rent Burdened Population

Given the low rent and high income, it is surprising that the percent of the rent-burdened population in Indian Wells is higher than average. Rent burden is defined as spending more than one-third of your monthly income on rent and utilities. In Indian Wells, 86% of the population is rent-burdened compared with 55% in the Coachella Valley.

Select a community to see how rent burdened rates compare to Indian Wells.

Homeownership

The homeownership rate in Indian Wells is high compared to the rest of the Coachella Valley. In 2018 at 85%, of Indian Wells residents were homeowners, this homeownership rate was about 20 percentage points higher than the Coachella Valley average of 66%.

Select a community to see how homeownership rates compare to Indian Wells.

Social Connectedness & Transit

Linguistic Isolation

The percentage of limited-English speaking households in Indian Wells, 1%, is far lower than the Coachella Valley average of 15%.

Transit Ridership

Transit ridership in Indian Wells is uniquely high for the Coachella Valley and has grown over the last few years. In 2018, transit ridership reached just over 4%, compared with just 1% in the Coachella Valley. However, that rate is still lower than the California and U.S. averages which are both just over 5%.

Select a community to see how transit ridership compares to Indian Wells.

Source Notes: All data in this community profile come from the American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2014-2018. Income and rent figures are shown in 2018 dollars for all years.

Photo Credits: City of Indian Wells, Planning Division

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