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Community Profile: Desert Hot Springs

Desert Hot Springs
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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.

Desert Hot Springs was officially incorporated as a city in 1963. However, the first settlers began moving to the area in the early 1900s and built homesteads.

The City draws tourists to its numerous hot springs and is known as a wellness destination. These springs are heated up to 180 degrees naturally by the Desert Hot Springs Aquifer. Another aquifer, the Mission Creak Aquifer, provides award-winning water to residents.

Today the city has 28,430 residents. Compared to the rest of the Coachella Valley, these residents are generally younger; have lower incomes ($34,814); complete high school (73%) and college at lower rates (13%); have higher rent burdens (60%), and lower rates of homeownership (43%).

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

Demography

Desert Hot Springs has a population of 28,430 and stretches 31 square miles. The average household size is 2.91 people, slightly higher than the average household size in Coachella Valley of 2.54.

36% of households are non-family households, which includes both people living alone and with non-relatives. This is slightly lower than the Coachella Valley average of 41%.

Race & Ethnicity

Desert Hot Springs has a Hispanic population of 56%, slightly higher than the Coachella Valley average of 51% and 17 percentage points higher than the Hispanic population in California.

Immigration

24% of Desert Hot Springs' population are immigrants. This is slightly lower than the Coachella Valley and California immigrant populations.

Nearly 31% of those immigrants are citizens which is slightly lower than average for the Coachella Valley (40%).

Select a community to see how immigrant population compares to Desert Hot Springs.

Age Distribution

The population in Desert Hot Springs is generally younger than the average in the Coachella Valley. 29% of the population is under 18 while in the rest of the valley that age group makes up 21% of the population.

Education/Health

College Graduation

Desert Hot Springs has about half as many people completing a college degree as average estimate across the Coachella Valley. 13% of the population of Desert Hot Springs have college degrees while the average in the Coachella Valley is 24%.

High School GraduationHigh School Graduation

27% of the population of Desert Hot Springs has not completed high school or received an equivalent education. That is 8 percentage points higher than the Coachella Valley average.

Health Insurance

14% of the population of Desert Hot Springs does not have health insurance. That is higher than the rest of the Coachella Valley (12%) and California (8%).

Select a community to the right of the chart to see how uninsured population rates compare to Desert Hot Springs.

Income/Poverty

Median Income

The median household income in Desert Hot Springs is $34,814, almost $19,000 lower than the median income in the Coachella Valley, $53,539.

Population Living Below Poverty Line

Desert Hot Springs has a relatively high rate of people living below the poverty line. 33% of the population lives below poverty while that proportion is 19% in the Coachella Valley and only 14% in California.

Select a community to the right of the chart to see how poverty rates compare to Desert Hot Springs.

Housing/Real Estate

Household Overcrowding

Desert Hot Springs has a much higher rate of household overcrowding than the average in the Coachella Valley. 13% of Desert Hot Springs residents have more than one person per room in their housing unit.

Select a community to the right of the chart to see how household overcrowding compares to Desert Hot Springs.

Rent Burden

60% of renter households in Desert Hot Springs were rent burdened as of 2018 estimates, meaning they paid more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. This is slightly above average for the Coachella Valley and California.

Select a community to the right of the chart to see how rent burden compares to Desert Hot Springs.

Homeownership

The rate of homeownership in Desert Hot Springs is low when compared with rates of homeownership across the Coachella Valley. As of 2018 estimates, the homeownership rate was 43% compared to a 66% homeownership rate in the Coachella Valley.

Select a community to the right of the chart to see how homeownership compares to Desert Hot Springs.

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

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