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Place dossier plate
SheetCA-INDIAN-WELLS-CA · Indian Wells, CA 4,830 pop · income 93rd pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Indian Wells
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Indian Wells on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Needles · lowest
39,876
Needles · lowest
39,876 median HH income
27.4% of the leader · rank #1
Sayville · near
145,278
Sayville · near
145,278 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #2
Wooster · near
145,282
Wooster · near
145,282 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #3
Oceanside · near
145,282
Oceanside · near
145,282 median HH income
99.9% of the leader · rank #4
Indian Wells · this city
145,313
Indian Wells · this city
145,313 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #5
Irvington · near
145,333
Irvington · near
145,333 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #6
Elmhurst · highest
145,374
Elmhurst · highest
145,374 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Indian Wells on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 4,830.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Indian Wells - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Indian Wells lands in the 93rd percentile for household income and the 42nd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
93rd
percentile, household income
97th
percentile, home value
88th
percentile, median rent
42nd
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Indian Wells, CA
Indian Wells is a small town in California, home to 4,830 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Indian Wells households earn a median of $145,313 annually, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 1.4%. Home values in Indian Wells run a median of $1,002,200, and the median resident age is 67.5 years. 59.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 37.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 9 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 88% from five years earlier. Indian Wells reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1615.9 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
California carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts California at 110.7 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Above Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $2,053 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across California, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 out of 100 (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Indian Wells's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to schools and households to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to reported crime to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Indian Wells, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Indian Wells growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +212 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 9 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What does the education layer cover for Indian Wells?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 59.3% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
What does the journey to work look like in Indian Wells?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 55.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Indian Wells?
Within California, the closest population matches are Bret Harte (4,807 residents, $42,422 income); Needles (4,882 residents, $39,876 income); Goshen (4,895 residents, $72,813 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Glendive, MT (4,831 residents); Pilot Point, TX (4,829 residents); Wauna, WA (4,831 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Indian Wells?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1615.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 29% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1411.3
Violent rate
204.5
Total reported rate
1615.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Indian Wells?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 6.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Household income
$145,313
Home value
$1,002,200
Value / income
6.9×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Top-decile income · poverty 1.4% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Highest-decile cost · BEA RPP 2024, California average
B-
City profile score · Indian Wells, CA
66/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Household income A+
$145,313
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share A+
59.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate A+
1.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime D
205 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
110.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Indian Wells profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 95/100 (A+) · $145,313
Bachelor's+ share: 91/100 (A+) · 59.3%
Poverty rate: 90/100 (A+) · 1.4%
Violent crime: 47/100 (D) · 205 /100k
Cost of living: 6/100 (F) · 110.7 index
Where Indian Wells sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Indian Wells's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Indian Wells highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Indian Wells, CA (this city): home $1,002,200, crime 1,616/100k
Glendive, MT : home $176,900, crime 1,592/100k
Pilot Point, TX : home $268,300, crime 740/100k
South Bay, FL : home $125,000, crime 3,149/100k
Palos Park, IL : home $469,900, crime 530/100k
Needles, CA : home $134,400, crime 3,278/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Indian Wells compare to other US cities?
Here's how Indian Wells stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income93% higher than other cities
Home value97% pricier than other cities
Median rent88% pricier than other cities
Safety42% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to California alone, Indian Wells ranks #168 of 441 California cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Indian Wells against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to California only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
California-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Indian Wells near the bottom of California's cities
Among the 1,458 California cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Indian Wells ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Indian Wells only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#192 of 1,338
86th percentile in California
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,458
0th percentile in California
Median Home Value
#242 of 1,343
82nd percentile in California
Poverty Rate
#1,146 of 1,450
20th percentile in California
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#180 of 1,458
88th percentile in California
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within California only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
93rd percentile nationally for median household income · 42nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Indian Wells's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Indian Wells's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Indian Wells's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$1,002,2003rd percentilemore affordable than 3% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. 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 ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Indian Wells's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,628 of 15,516
More affordable than 6% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,781 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.9×, Indian Wells sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,628 of 15,516 and #10,781 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$145,313Indian Wells, CA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Indian Wells, CA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Indian Wells, CA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)59.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)37.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,830
Median Income
$145,313
Median Home Value
$1,002,200
Median Age
67.5
Poverty Rate
1.4%
Labor force participation
37.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
59.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1615.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
204.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1411.3
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Indian Wells's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,780 residents
2021
4,844 residents
2022
4,857 residents
2023
4,903 residents
2024
4,969 residents
2025
4,992 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
9
housing units authorized
Single-Family
9
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
77
77
0
$31.8M
2020
15
15
0
$6.4M
2021
44
44
0
$20.6M
2022
120
120
0
$77.1M
2023
46
46
0
$38.6M
2024
9
9
0
$5.0M
Permit volume decreased 88% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
55.4%
Carpool
1.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
9.0%
Work from Home
28.7%
Other
5.3%
Based on 1,660 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
California statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across California at $275 (electricity about $150 , water and sewer about $70 ).
These are California statewide averages, not a meter reading for Indian Wells. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
California's BEA cost-of-living index is 110.7 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Indian Wells is $2,053/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to California statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 88.7 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a California statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Indian Wells sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Indian Wells compares to similar-size California cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.