county

Imperial County, CA

Demographic and economic profile of Imperial County, CA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Imperial County's economy is anchored in agriculture, reflected in a foreign-born labor share of 31.6% and a median worker earnings figure of just $33,020 against a GDP per capita of $55,808—a gap suggesting significant output from low-wage agricultural and related work. The labor force is relatively small and constrained, with only 52.7% participation, a 12.6% unemployment rate, and 16.1% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher. Housing costs remain low, with a median home value of $279,500 and median gross rent of $1,012/month, though the county has seen slight population decline of 0.5% over five years and carries a 19.6% poverty rate.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

181,724

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$57,681

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

33.2 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-0.5% since 2018

Imperial County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • Some Other Race Alone74,702 (41.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race55,772 (30.9%)
  • White Alone35,716 (19.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races4,283 (2.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone3,975 (2.2%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone2,795 (1.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish122,529
  2. 2.Korean475
  3. 3.Other Indo-European340
  4. 4.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)328
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)227

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

28.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

13.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

31.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

4,439

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$55,808

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$22,702

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

12.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

19.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance15,742
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)6,966
  3. 3.Public Administration (Group)6,240
  4. 4.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining6,127
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services5,666

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Service Occupations16,457
  2. 2.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations15,821
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations11,418
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations9,411
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations9,170

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 6.17×)6,036
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 2.27×)6,568
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.14×)4,084
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.08×)7,188
  5. 5.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.08×)1,520

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$279,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,012/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

56.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9998,025 (28.4%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9994,291 (15.2%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9993,437 (12.2%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9993,321 (11.8%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9991,534 (5.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,235 (4.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

16.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

71.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

52.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$33,020

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone48,101 (79.0%)
  • Carpooled5,371 (8.8%)
  • Worked At Home4,357 (7.2%)
  • Walked1,611 (2.6%)
  • Other787 (1.3%)
  • Public Transit195 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.