Palm Desert Is Full of Surprises (Coachella Valley oddities)
Think you really know Palm Desert? It is a city with more golf courses than you have credit cards, something you truly have to see to believe, and date shakes thicker than country club gossip. Let’s run through the facts, the stats, and the sweater-weather delusions that explain what makes Palm Desert’s snowbird sanctuary operate on its own very specific rhythm.
Holley, Our Local Expert Guiding Your Move
Holley lives in Palm Springs, which still feels a little surreal after years of dreaming about desert life from afar. After moving across the country six times, she landed in the Coachella Valley for the palm trees, mountain views, and a history so layered it feels like it was built for her. She has worked at two presidential libraries, hosts a history podcast, and writes archival based stories that bring the past back to life, which makes a place steeped in Old Hollywood, politics, and quiet celebrity exactly her speed. When she’s not golfing or disappearing into another archive treasure hunt, she’s happily leaning into local life, and exploring the best date-shake stands. At Snappy Scout, Holley edits with a historians eye and a locals instincts, turning California from a postcard into a place with texture, memory, and meaning.
Read moreWritten with local insight from Snappy Scout relocation experts
What Makes Palm Desert Palm Desert?
The weird, useful, and surprisingly relevant facts that shape everyday life here.
Common nicknames for Palm Desert
PD, The Desert, 'The Expensive One,' Rodeo Drive’s Desert Cousin
Local Reality Check
People think it is all retirees. In reality, a large share of the workforce is under 40.
You're most likely moving from
Los Angeles or Orange County
Strangely large concentration of
More than 25 galleries line El Paseo, and that is just the start
Music scene
McCallum Theatre jazz nights and country club tribute bands on repeat
You'll have to see it to believe it
The Living Desert’s model railroad, where 8,000 square feet of tiny desert somehow steals the show
Unique Geography
A modest 224 feet above sea level, with the Santa Rosa Mountains doing the dramatic part
Palm Desert is home to
College of the Desert and more than 130 championship golf holes
Well known for its
El Paseo shopping district, which has been dubbed the 'Rodeo Drive of the Desert'
Fun history fact
City incorporated in 1973, making it younger than Disneyland
Celebrity sightings
This is a town where Gerald Ford, Bob Hope, Suzanne Somers, and Bill Gates all once kept desert addresses
Noteworthy Census stat
Median age clocks in at 62, almost twice the California average
Most interesting sub-culture within Palm Desert
The snowbirds land right around October 1st, punctual as ever
Population
Mid-sized by California standards, about 104th in the state and roughly top 500 in the country
Palm Desert is roughly the same geographic size as
Burbank, a tidy 27 square miles
A Local Event Worth Experiencing Once
Having spent some time on Rodeo Drive in the past, it is true that El Paseo is like the Rodeo Drive of the Coachella Valley. In true form, they host Fashion Week El Paseo every March. Traffic is crazy at that time, but it is fun to see such a variety of fashion crafted by both well-known and lesser known designers. If anyone is looking for some glitz and glamour, you can find it at Fashion Week.
— Holley Snaith
California Local Expert
Ready to See If Palm Desert Fits You?
Compare cities, check the routes, or head back to the full Palm Desert guide for the bigger picture.