City safety & data profile
ImperialCA
Imperial, CA is a 17K-resident city in Imperial County with a median household income of $90,195.
Imperial County, California. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Imperial, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Imperial has a population larger than 35% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $360,900, and 2 hospitals serving the surrounding area.
- 17K
- Population (place)
- Bottom 36%
- By size
- $90,195
- Median income (place)
- $360,900
- Median home (place)
- 12.5%
- Poverty rate (place)
The read on Imperial
Imperial posts a median household income higher than 61% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 2 hospitals serve the Imperial area.
- Top 39%
- by median income, US cities
- 2
- hospitals in & near Imperial
Composite score · Imperial, CA
38/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024
A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.
Compare against every tracked city: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).
Where Imperial income ranks nationally
Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)
$90,195 Top 39% higher than 61% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles
Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year
Population ranking: CA
482 CA places (10,000+ residents, ACS income on record), sorted by population. Hover a bar for its income rank in this pool.
- Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
3,820,914 residents
- San Diego 1,404,452
San Diego, CA
1,404,452 residents
- San Jose 997,368
San Jose, CA
997,368 residents
- San Francisco 827,526
San Francisco, CA
827,526 residents
- Fresno 542,107
Fresno, CA
542,107 residents
- Sacramento 524,943
Sacramento, CA
524,943 residents
- Long Beach 474,140
Long Beach, CA
474,140 residents
- Oakland 419,267
Oakland, CA
419,267 residents
- Bakersfield 373,640
Bakersfield, CA
373,640 residents
- Anaheim 350,742
Anaheim, CA
350,742 residents
What this shows Los Angeles is the largest CA city on this list; Alamo leads median income.
Highest median incomes in CA
The same 482-city CA pool, sorted by median household income instead of headcount. Tooltip carries the population rank.
- Alamo
Alamo, CA
$250,001 median
- Hillsborough
Hillsborough, CA
$250,001 median
- Los Altos
Los Altos, CA
$250,001 median
- Orinda
Orinda, CA
$250,001 median
- Piedmont
Piedmont, CA
$250,001 median
- Saratoga
Saratoga, CA
$250,001 median
- Coto De Caza
Coto De Caza, CA
$243,816 median
- Tamalpais-Homestead Valley
Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, CA
$243,227 median
- Palos Verdes Estates
Palos Verdes Estates, CA
$242,014 median
- San Carlos
San Carlos, CA
$237,470 median
What this shows Alamo leads this pool on median income; Los Angeles is the population leader instead.
The quick read
Reading Imperial, CA beyond the headline numbers
Imperial sits inside Imperial County, California, at roughly 32.85°N, -115.57°W. Population 17,095, $90,195 median household income. Median home value $360,900, median rent $1,255. Poverty rate 12.5%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.
2 hospitals in/around Imperial (nearest 5.6 mi away), 2/5 avg rating, 2 with an ER. Climate: 73°F annual average, 2.8" precipitation.
Among the CDC measures on this page, lack of health insurance departs furthest from its peer median: 17.4% in Imperial, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.
8.2% unemployment puts Imperial in the toughest quarter of reporting cities for job availability.
Imperial's median age is 31.3 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.
Only 7.5% of Imperial workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.
22.7% of Imperial adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the lowest quarter of reporting cities.
Public transit carries 0% of Imperial workers, a smaller share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.
Median rent in Imperial, CA runs $1,255/month, below the midpoint for reporting cities.
Poverty in Imperial, CA stands at 12.5%, above the midpoint of reporting cities. A median income can look comfortable while a share this size sits well beneath it, which is why the two figures belong together.
A median home in Imperial runs about 4.0 times median household income, above the midpoint. Multiples in this range usually mean buyers are arriving from outside the local wage base.
Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Imperial from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.
The 10-Year Trend 2013–2024
County-level trend (Imperial County): Imperial's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.
Economics
The clearest outlier in Imperial's numbers is median rent: $1,255/mo, which is 18% below what's typical across the tracked-city set.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Median Rent | |
| Poverty Rate | 12.5% |
| Unemployment | 8.2% |
| Bachelor's Degree+ | 22.7% |
| Work From Home | 7.5% |
| Public Transit | 0% |
Population
Health Profile 15 measures
Health Indicators
Preventive Care
Other Measures
Nearby Hospital Options 2 within 25 mi
CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.
Climate
NOAA 1991-2020 NormalsCost of Living
BEA 20244.8% below national average
Metro area: El Centro, CA (MSA)
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities via FRED. RPP of 100 = national average.
Flood Claims on Record
FEMA NFIP, county-levelSince 2016, NFIP has paid out $34K across 2 flood insurance claims filed in Imperial County.
Tropical Storm Hilary alone generated 1 of those claims, the county's largest named flood event in this record.
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.
What alerts and safety updates affect Imperial?
No area-tagged alerts are on record for Imperial right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.
City alert dispatch desk
Sheet CA-IMPERIAL · Imperial
Imperial: 6 tagged alerts; lead category NWS weather alert.
- VOL-LIGHT 6 on record
- WX-LED 100% weather
- DESK-MIX NOAA
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Detroit
Tagged alert mix: Imperial
Published notices carrying this city slug or location tag
- Weather Alerts
Weather Alerts
6
What this shows 6 tagged notices on record for Imperial.
Nearest tagged-volume peer: Detroit, MI (6 tagged · Δ0)
Counts reflect published articles tagged to Imperial; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse California state hubs · Methodology
Similar alert activity elsewhere 4
Nearest published-notice counts on Areazine (6 tagged here), a feed-density peer set, not an ACS demographic match.
Frequently Asked Questions 9
What is the population of Imperial, CA? ▼
What is the median household income in Imperial? ▼
What is the median home value in Imperial? ▼
What are the top health concerns in Imperial? ▼
What hospitals are near Imperial? ▼
What is the median age in Imperial? ▼
What is the climate like in Imperial? ▼
What is the cost of living in Imperial? ▼
What is the flood claim history for Imperial? ▼
Comparable cities by poverty or income, nationwide 8
Two ACS-derived peer sets for Imperial, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.
Similar poverty rate
Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside CA (12.5% here).
Similar median income
Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside CA ($90,195 here).
Compare Imperial with another city
Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.
Cities Close By 8
Using Imperial's profile
Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.
- Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Imperial area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
- A median income figure alone can mislead, cross-check it against the poverty rate for the fuller picture.
- Compare Imperial against California peers on any ranking lens. Explore California
U.S. Census ACS supplies the place-level population and economics figures (income, home value, poverty, education); CDC PLACES supplies health; hospital counts reflect nearby facilities. County-level trends carry their own label.
Data Sources
All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Imperial County) where that is the smallest published unit.
Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.