Community Profile: Coachella
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.
The city of Coachella is located on the eastern border of the Coachella Valley, to the south of Indio and to the north of Thermal. The area was originally founded around a Southern Pacific Railroad terminal in the late 1800s. The city was incorporated in 1946. Originally 2.5-square-miles, the city of Coachella has expanded to over twelve times its original size. Today it is home to a largely rural and agricultural community of over 40,000 residents. The median income in the city is $33,870, which is lower than the average of the other cities and places in the Coachella Valley ($53,539).
The overwhelming majority of the population in the city of Coachella is Hispanic (97%) and more than half of the city's population is under the age of 34. Further, over a third of the city's population is under the age of 18, which is much younger than both the average age in the Coachella Valley and in California. The city has a high number of immigrants (39%) and non-English speaking households (57%) when compared to other Coachella Valley communities.
Explore the visualizations below to learn more about demography, housing and social connectedness in the city of Coachella and how the city compares to the state, county and other places in the Coachella Valley.
Demography
Coachella is the fifth largest city in the Coachella Valley with a population of 44,849. The city stretches across 30.08 square miles.
The average household size in the city of Coachella is 3 people, and 41% of the total 14,674 households in the city are made up of non-family households (individuals living alone or with non-relatives) - well under the Coachella Valley average.
Age Distribution
The city of Coachella has a median age of 33.5 years old, relatively young compared to the state median age of 36 years old and the national median age of 38 years old.
26% of the city is under the age of 18, which is slightly high for the Coachella Valley region, state of California and the United States.
Race & Ethnicity
The city of Coachella has the fourth largest Hispanic population in the Coachella Valley with Hispanic people making up almost 98% of the city's population. Compared to other Coachella Valley communities, the city of Coachella has a relatively small White Population.
Immigration
39% of the population in the city of Coachella are immigrants, which is above average for the Coachella Valley, the state of California and the United States. Select a community to the right of the chart to see how the size of its immigrant population compares to the city of Coachella.
32% of the city of Coachella's immigrants are citizens, a relatively low rate compared to many other communities in the Coachella Valley.
Housing/Real Estate
Housing Units
There are 15,405 housing units in the city of Coachella, making up 6.2% of the total housing units in Coachella Valley cities and places. Hover over each box to see how the city of Coachella compares to other communities in the Coachella Valley.
Median Rent Price
Median gross rent in the city of Coachella is $887 as of 2018 estimates, almost 21% below the average for the Coachella Valley. Median rent by number of bedrooms is shown in the chart to the left.
Rent Burden
70.3% of renter households in the city of Coachella were rent burdened in 2018, above the average rates in the Coachella Valley and California.
Select a community to the right of the graph to see how rent burden rates compare to the city of Coachella.
Overcrowded Households
7.4% of households in the city of Coachella have more than one person per one room of their housing unit, slightly above average for the county's overcrowding rate of 6.9%.
Housing Stability
94.5% of households in the city of Coachella are living in the same housing unit as they were one year ago, above average for the county's stability rate of 86.8%.
Homeownership
Homeownership rates have fluctuated in the city of Coachella over the most recent group of 5-year estimates. 68.7% of households are homeowners, 14% above the average for the state of California, and just above the Coachella Valley and national averages.
Social Connectedness
Linguistic Isolation
57% of the households in the city of Coachella are limited-English speaking households. This is relatively high compared to the average across other Coachella Valley places where 15% of households are limited-English speaking.
Environment
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) does not provide environmental data at the city level. The information below on environmental conditions in the city of Coachella is an average of the census tracts containing the city.
Air Quality
The average annual concentration of particulate matter (PM2.5) is a common measure of air quality. PM2.5 refers to tiny particles in the air that are 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, allowing them to penetrate the lungs. Particle matter can include a mixture of organical chemicals, wood, dust, soot, and metals; and can be released into the air from cars and trucks, factories, and wood burning and fires. Because PM2.5 can penetrate the lungs and bloodstream, it may cause many adverse health effects including lung and heart disease.
The city of Coachella has an average annual concentration of 8.11 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter of air according to data collected from 2012 to 2014. This is higher than the Coachella Valley average of 7.26, but lower than the Riverside County average (10.16) and the California average (10.37).
Water Quality
The California OEHHA created an index measuring the average annual concentration of 13 common water contaminants in water systems to measure drinking water quality.
The city of Coachella has an index score of 410.94, lower than the averages for the Coachella Valley (520.66), Riverside County (737.18) and California (472.37) - indicating better water quality in the city of Coachella than these other geographies. These numbers were measured as an average from 2005 to 2013.
Sources Notes: All data in this community profile come from the 2018 5-year estimates of the American Community Survey with the exception of Air and Water Quality which come from the CalEnviroScreen 3.0. All income and rent figures are shown in 2018 dollars for all years.
Photo Credit: Noe Montes
