{"id":701,"date":"2023-01-17T06:47:14","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T06:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=701"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:07:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:07:44","slug":"imperial-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/imperial-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Imperial County, California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Imperial County is a county in California, United States, about 113 miles east of San Diego<br \/>\nacross the Laguna Mountains. It had a population of 179,702 at the 2020 census, an estimated<br \/>\n180,202 by 2024, and covers 4,177 square miles (10,820 km2) of land centred near 33\u00b004\u2032N 115\u00b035\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>El Centro is the county seat and its largest city; its postal code is 92243. The county holds<br \/>\n7 incorporated cities and 9 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own,<br \/>\nand it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 06025.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Imperial County<\/h2>\n<p>Imperial County has 16 named places on record: 7 incorporated cities and 9 census-designated<br \/>\nplaces (CDPs) with no elected municipal government of their own. California has no civil<br \/>\ntownships, so the county administers all unincorporated land directly.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>El Centro<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>44,322<\/td>\n<td>92243<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Calexico<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>38,633<\/td>\n<td>92231<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Brawley<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>26,416<\/td>\n<td>92227<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Imperial<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>20,263<\/td>\n<td>92251<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Heber<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>6,896<\/td>\n<td>92249<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Calipatria<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>6,515<\/td>\n<td>92233<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Holtville<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>5,605<\/td>\n<td>92250<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Salton City<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>5,155<\/td>\n<td>92275<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Westmorland<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>2,014<\/td>\n<td>92281<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Seeley<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,729<\/td>\n<td>92273<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Desert Shores<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,128<\/td>\n<td>92274<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Niland<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>756<\/td>\n<td>92257<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Salton Sea Beach<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>508<\/td>\n<td>92274<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Winterhaven<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>390<\/td>\n<td>92283<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ocotillo<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>215<\/td>\n<td>92259<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bombay Beach<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>231<\/td>\n<td>92257<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Palo Verde<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>152<\/td>\n<td>92266<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Three pairs on this list share a ZIP or a name pattern worth untangling. Desert Shores and<br \/>\nSalton Sea Beach both use 92274, though they sit on opposite sides of a small headland along the<br \/>\nSalton Sea&#8217;s western shore, 2.5 miles apart. Bombay Beach shares 92257 with Niland despite<br \/>\nlying roughly 20 miles south, on the Salton Sea&#8217;s eastern shore &mdash; it has never had its<br \/>\nown post office. And Westmorland is sometimes misspelled &#8220;Westmoreland&#8221;: the post<br \/>\noffice briefly used that spelling from 1909 before the city settled on Westmorland in 1936.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>92243 &mdash; El Centro<\/li>\n<li>92231 &mdash; Calexico<\/li>\n<li>92227 &mdash; Brawley<\/li>\n<li>92251 &mdash; Imperial<\/li>\n<li>92249 &mdash; Heber<\/li>\n<li>92233 &mdash; Calipatria<\/li>\n<li>92250 &mdash; Holtville<\/li>\n<li>92275 &mdash; Salton City<\/li>\n<li>92281 &mdash; Westmorland<\/li>\n<li>92273 &mdash; Seeley<\/li>\n<li>92274 &mdash; Desert Shores and Salton Sea Beach<\/li>\n<li>92257 &mdash; Niland and Bombay Beach<\/li>\n<li>92283 &mdash; Winterhaven<\/li>\n<li>92259 &mdash; Ocotillo<\/li>\n<li>92266 &mdash; Palo Verde<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Bombay Beach and Salton Sea Beach have no post office of their own; both are served by rural<br \/>\nroute delivery under a neighboring town&#8217;s ZIP.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Imperial County occupies the Imperial Valley, a low desert basin in California&#8217;s<br \/>\nsoutheastern corner that is part of the larger Colorado Desert. Much of the valley floor sits<br \/>\nbelow sea level, reclaimed for farming by Colorado River water carried through the All-American<br \/>\nCanal, which the Imperial Irrigation District uses to feed over 1,400 miles of canals and 1,100<br \/>\nmiles of pipeline. The Salton Sea, California&#8217;s largest lake, covers the county&#8217;s<br \/>\nnorthern edge and lies about 235 feet below sea level at its shoreline; it formed in 1905&ndash;07<br \/>\nwhen floodwaters breached an irrigation channel from the Colorado River and filled the ancient<br \/>\nSalton Basin. The New River and Alamo River both flow north from Mexicali, across the border, into<br \/>\nthe Salton Sea, carrying agricultural drainage along the way.<\/p>\n<p>San Diego County borders Imperial to the west, Riverside County to the north, and Baja<br \/>\nCalifornia, Mexico, lies immediately south across the international line at Calexico and<br \/>\nAndrade. The Colorado River forms the eastern boundary with Yuma County, Arizona. <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/san-diego-county\/\">San Diego County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/riverside-county\/\">Riverside County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/yuma-county\/\">Yuma County<\/a> all border Imperial directly.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Imperial County had a population of 179,702 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts<br \/>\nthe county near 180,202 residents as of 2024. El Centro and Calexico are by far the two largest<br \/>\ncommunities, together holding well over 40 percent of the county&#8217;s population. Median<br \/>\nhousehold income runs $57,681, well below California&#8217;s statewide figure of $95,521 (2023<br \/>\nACS) &mdash; among the widest gaps of any California county. Population density works out to<br \/>\nroughly 43 people per square mile of land, one of the lowest in Southern California, reflecting<br \/>\nthe county&#8217;s vast irrigated farmland and desert open space outside its cities.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Agriculture is the defining industry: Imperial Valley farms generate more than $1 billion in<br \/>\ncrop value a year growing alfalfa, lettuce, sugar beets, carrots, cotton and grain, all irrigated<br \/>\nentirely by Colorado River water. Wikipedia&#8217;s Imperial Valley entry puts agriculture&#8217;s<br \/>\nshare of regional employment at 48 percent, by far the largest of any sector. Away from the<br \/>\nfields, Health Care and Social Assistance employs the most workers on record at 10,391, followed<br \/>\nby Retail Trade at 6,966 and Public Administration at 6,240; two state prisons, Calipatria State<br \/>\nPrison and Centinela State Prison near Imperial, are major institutional employers, as is Naval<br \/>\nAir Facility El Centro, the Blue Angels&#8217; winter training base since the 1950s. The<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s biggest annual event is the California Mid-Winter Fair &amp; Fiesta, held in<br \/>\nImperial each late February and early March, drawing over 100,000 visitors.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>California&#8217;s legislature formed Imperial County on 7 August 1907, carving it out of<br \/>\neastern San Diego County. It was named for the Imperial Valley, itself named after the Imperial<br \/>\nLand Company, a subsidiary of the California Development Company that promoted the valley&#8217;s<br \/>\nirrigation and settlement around 1900. A 1905&ndash;07 breach in the company&#8217;s diversion<br \/>\nchannel from the Colorado River flooded the desert basin for two years and created the Salton<br \/>\nSea, before engineers closed the break and restored the river to its course.<\/p>\n<p>Imperial was California&#8217;s first city in the valley to incorporate, in 1904, three years<br \/>\nbefore the county itself existed. On 4 April 2010, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake centred near<br \/>\nMexicali struck the region, damaging buildings across El Centro and Calexico and prompting a<br \/>\nmulti-year rebuilding effort.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Interstate 8 crosses the county east&ndash;west, linking San Diego to Yuma, Arizona. State<br \/>\nRoutes 86, 111, 78 and 98 connect the valley&#8217;s cities and the border crossings at Calexico<br \/>\nand Andrade.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>San Diego &mdash; about 113 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Yuma, Arizona &mdash; about 60 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Palm Springs &mdash; about 100 miles northwest<\/li>\n<li>Mexicali, Mexico &mdash; adjacent, across the border at Calexico<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Imperial County Airport, on El Centro&#8217;s edge, has Essential Air Service flights to Los<br \/>\nAngeles and Phoenix on Southern Airways Express, but is mostly general aviation. San Diego<br \/>\nInternational Airport, about 113 miles west, is the nearest large hub. No Amtrak route serves the<br \/>\ncounty directly; the closest station is Yuma, Arizona, on the Sunset Limited line, about 60 miles<br \/>\neast.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Imperial County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in California&#8217;s far southeastern corner, in the Imperial Valley, bordered by San<br \/>\nDiego and Riverside counties, Yuma County, Arizona, and Baja California, Mexico.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Imperial County?<\/strong><br \/>\n179,702 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 180,202.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Imperial County?<\/strong><br \/>\n4,177 square miles (10,820 km2) of land, making it one of California&#8217;s larger counties by<br \/>\narea but one of its least densely populated.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Imperial County?<\/strong><br \/>\nEl Centro, the county&#8217;s largest city, is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Imperial County?<\/strong><br \/>\nSeven incorporated cities &mdash; El Centro, Calexico, Brawley, Imperial, Calipatria, Holtville<br \/>\nand Westmorland &mdash; plus nine census-designated places: Heber, Salton City, Seeley, Desert<br \/>\nShores, Niland, Salton Sea Beach, Winterhaven, Ocotillo and Bombay Beach.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Imperial County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n92243 for El Centro, 92231 for Calexico, 92227 for Brawley, 92251 for Imperial, and smaller codes<br \/>\nfor each of the county&#8217;s other cities and CDPs, listed above.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Imperial County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nWinter vegetable farming fed entirely by Colorado River water, the below-sea-level Salton Sea, and<br \/>\ntwo international border crossings with Mexicali, Mexico, at Calexico.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/california\/\">Towns<br \/>\nand villages in California<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Imperial County is a county in California, United States, about 113 miles east of San Diego across the Laguna Mountains. It had a population of 179,702 at the 2020 census, an estimated 180,202 by 2024, and covers 4,177 square miles (10,820 km2) of land centred near 33\u00b004\u2032N 115\u00b035\u2032W. El Centro is the county seat and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Imperial County, California","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 16 cities and communities in Imperial County, California - population and ZIP for each, plus the Salton Sea and Imperial Valley farming history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-california","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9352,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701\/revisions\/9352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}