Best PlacesPalm Desert, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palm Desert, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Palm Desert ranks 1,600th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Palm Desert
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Palm Desert's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palm Desert ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 212 pleasant days a year, better than 92% of cities
- QuietBetter than 84% of cities
- BikingBetter than 84% of cities
- Short commute21.1 minutes each way, better than 82% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 79% of cities
Where Palm Desert ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Palm Desert
A household needs to earn about $157,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palm Desert home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,500, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Palm Desert's effective rate of 0.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Palm Desert
Palm Desert runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Palm Desert.
Who works in Palm Desert, and how
Work in Palm Desert centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Palm Desert
Palm Desert has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Palm Desert and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Palm Desert, month by month
Palm Desert sees roughly 212 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 112 degrees. January highs sit near 72, with lows near 46. The comfortable stretch runs November through March.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 72° | 59° | 46° |
| April | 91° | 76° | 59° |
| July | 112° | 97° | 81° |
| October | 94° | 79° | 64° |
Flying in and out of Palm Desert
The nearest airport, Palm Springs International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ontario International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Palm Desert
Schools across Palm Desert average a C−, better than 19% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- George Washington CharterA− · 59% proficient
- Gerald R. Ford ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Desert Ridge AcademyB+ · 50% proficient
- La Quinta MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Colonel Mitchell Paige MiddleF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Palm Desert HighB · 48% proficient
- Cathedral City HighB− · 43% proficient
- Shadow Hills HighC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palm Desert school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palm Desert measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Palm Desert against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Palm Desert suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 17% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 92% of cities, health care access beats 79%, and it is quieter than 84%.
Common questions about living in Palm Desert
Is Palm Desert a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palm Desert ranks 1,600th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and biking, and lowest on empty homes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palm Desert expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $597,246. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $91,500 median income, cost of living beats 32% of cities.
Is Palm Desert safe?
Palm Desert is safer than 32% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $406 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Palm Desert?
July highs average about 112 degrees, and January highs near 72 with lows near 46. That works out to about 212 pleasant days a year, more than 92% of cities.
Is Palm Desert good for families?
Schools beat 19% of cities, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $1,337 a month.
Compare Palm Desert with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palm Desert. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palm Desert represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Palm Desert detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palm Desert: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palm Desert: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palm Desert: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palm Desert: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palm Desert detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.