Community Profile: Cathedral City
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.
Cathedral City is located in the Coachella Valley to the east of Palm Springs. The Cahuilla Indians were the first inhabitants of the area and lived there for 2,000 years. Today 28% of Cathedral City is a protected Cahuilla Indian reservation.
Cathedral City is home to a growing number of festivals including Cathedral City Hot Air Balloon Festival, Taste of Jalisco, Cathedral City LGBT Days, a portion of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Halloween Spooktacular and Easter Kidapalooza. The City is also a thriving cultural center with the Coachella Valley’s only actors’ equity playhouse- CVRep Theatre- and an artist colony. Where Art Lives began as an artists’ colony in the Cathedral Cove neighborhood almost 100 years ago with famous artists such as Agnes Pelton, Val Samuelson, and Matille Prigge Seamen. Today, more than 70 professional artists still call Cathedral City home.
As of 2018 estimates, Cathedral City has a population of 54,037 people and a median income of $46,370. Compared to the rest of the Coachella Valley, Cathedral City has more immigrants (31% of total population), higher rates of immigrant citizenship (46%), lower rates of homeownership (61%), and higher rates of rent burden (58%).
Explore the visualizations below to learn more about demography, housing, education, environment, health and social connectedness in Cathedral City and how the community compares to the state, county and other places in the Coachella Valley.
Demography
Cathedral City has a population of 53,733, making it the second largest city in the Coachella Valley. The average household size is 2.98 people, slightly higher than the average household size in Coachella Valley of 2.54.
The rate of non-family households, which includes individuals living alone or with non-relatives, is about 38% of the 17,984 total households. This is only slightly lower than the average rate in Coachella Valley as a whole, 41%.
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Race & Ethnicity
Cathedral City has a large Hispanic population, 60% of the total population. This is above the average in the Coachella Valley (51%).
Additionally, there is a slightly larger Asian population in Cathedral City (5%) than the rest of the Coachella Valley (3%). Furthermore, the white population in Cathedral City has been falling in recent years, from 37% in 2010, to 30% in 2018.
Age Distribution
The age distribution is also very similar to the state's age distribution. For example, 9% of Cathedral City's population is between 18-24 and 13% are between 25-34; compared to 10% and 15%, respectively, at the state level.
Immigrant Population
Just over 31% of Cathedral City's population is made up of immigrants. That rate is slightly higher than the rate for the Coachella Valley (25%), California (27%) and the U.S. (13%).
Select a community to see how immigrant population compares to Cathedral City.
Immigrant Citizenship
46% of the immigrant population in Cathedral City are citizens. This rate is higher than the rate in the Coachella Valley (40%). As you can see in the graph on the left, the rate of immigrant citizenship in Cathedral City is growing faster than that rate in the Coachella Valley but is still lower than the rate in either California or the United States.
Select a community to see how immigrant citizenship compares to Cathedral City.
Education
High School Graduation
Cathedral City has a slightly lower high school graduation rate than the average estimate for the Coachella Valley. 77% of the population has received a high school diploma (or its equivalent) in Cathedral City as compared to the average in the Coachella Valley (80%).
College Graduation
20% of the population of Cathedral City have graduated from college. That number is lower than the average college graduation rate for the Coachella Valley (24%).
Young Adults Enrolled in School
Nearly 36% of young adults are enrolled in school in Cathedral City. That rate is slightly higher than the average rate in the Coachella Valley, but lower than in California or the United States. The graph on the right demonstrates that that proportion has been growing since 2009.
Select a community to see how young adults enrolled in school rates compare to Cathedral City
Housing/Real Estate
Housing Units
Cathedral City has the fifth largest number of housing units in the Coachella Valley at 22,679 units.
There is also a slightly higher rate of household overcrowding, meaning there is more than one person per one room of a housing unit. In Cathedral City the average rate of overcrowding is 10% compared to 6% average in the Coachella Valley.
Homeownership
The rate of homeownership in Cathedral City is 61%, slightly lower than the average homeownership rate in the Coachella Valley (66%). However, homeownership rates in Cathedral City are 6 percentage points higher than the state level average.
Select a community to see how the homeownership rates compare to Cathedral City.
Rent Burden
Cathedral City residents are slightly more rent burdened than the rest of the Coachella Valley. 58% of the population spent more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities according to 2018 estimates, as compared with the average in the Coachella Valley (55%).
Select a community to see how rent burden rates compare to Cathedral City.
Housing Stability
Housing stability in Cathedral City has been steadily growing since 2013. According to 2018 estimates, housing stability in Cathedral City is nearly 89%, 1% higher than average housing stability rate throughout the Coachella Valley.
Select a community to see how housing stability rates compare to Cathedral City.
Social Connectedness & Health
Linguistic Isolation
10% of households in Cathedral City are limited-English speaking households, meaning no one over the age of 14 reports speaking English "very well." This rate is slightly lower than the average rate of 15% across the Coachella Valley.
Uninsured Population
The rate of uninsured people is relatively high in Cathedral City (16%) compared to the average across the Coachella Valley (12%). However, this rate has fallen from 27% in 2012 estimates.
Transit Ridership
The rate of the population that uses public transit is low across the Coachella Valley at about 1.4%. However, in Cathedral City, the rate is slightly higher at 2.5% and has remained relatively consistent the past few years.
Select a community to see how transit ridership rates compare to Cathedral City.
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.
Cover Photo Credit: Noe Montes