Palm Desert is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 51,583 people and 18 associated neighborhoods, Palm Desert is the 182nd largest community in California.

Housing costs in Palm Desert are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.

Of important note, Palm Desert is also a city of artists. Palm Desert has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Palm Desert’s character.

A relatively large number of people in Palm Desert telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 13.43% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Another notable thing is that Palm Desert is a major vacation destination. Much of the city’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Palm Desert’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.

The citizens of Palm Desert are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 39.93% of adults in Palm Desert have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Palm Desert in 2022 was $55,369, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $221,476 for a family of four. However, Palm Desert contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Palm Desert is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Palm Desert home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Palm Desert residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Palm Desert also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 23.99% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Palm Desert include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scottish.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Palm Desert's cultural character, accounting for 16.75% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Palm Desert is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.