Desert Shores vs El Centro Naval Air Facility

A side-by-side comparison of Desert Shores and El Centro Naval Air Facility: population, income, housing, and more.

Desert Shores and El Centro Naval Air Facility are places in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

El Centro Naval Air Facility has the higher population (497 vs 457 in Desert Shores). El Centro Naval Air Facility has the higher median household income ($59,500 vs $37,083 in Desert Shores). Since 2019, El Centro Naval Air Facility's population has grown faster (-18.4% vs -20.4%).

Population, income & housing

	Desert Shores	El Centro Naval Air Facility
Population	457	497
Median age	52.7 yrs	22.6 yrs
Median household income	$37,083	$59,500
Median home value	$169,400	—
Median gross rent	—	$1,657
Housing units	241	140
Homeownership rate	100.0%	0.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	0.5%	30.2%
Unemployment rate	2.1%	14.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Desert Shores	El Centro Naval Air Facility
Population	574 → 457 (-20.4%)	609 → 497 (-18.4%)
Median household income	$21,009 → $37,083 (+76.5%)	$95,208 → $59,500 (-37.5%)
Median home value	$48,700 → $169,400 (+247.8%)	—
Median gross rent	—	$1,260 → $1,657 (+31.5%)

Desert Shores

Population

574457

Median household income

$21,009$37,083

Median home value

$48,700$169,400

El Centro Naval Air Facility

Population

609497

Median household income

$95,208$59,500

Median gross rent

$1,260$1,657

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Desert Shores	El Centro Naval Air Facility
Under 5	11.6%	16.3%
5 to 17	1.1%	17.1%
18 to 24	3.3%	26.6%
25 to 34	19.7%	27.2%
35 to 44	2.4%	6.2%
45 to 54	12.5%	6.6%
55 to 64	21.0%	0.0%
65 to 74	6.8%	0.0%
75 and over	21.7%	0.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Desert Shores	El Centro Naval Air Facility
White (non-Hispanic)	23.2%	38.2%
Black or African American	0.0%	9.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	2.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.0%	28.0%
Hispanic or Latino	76.8%	22.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Desert Shores	El Centro Naval Air Facility
No high school diploma	46.9%	3.0%
High school graduate	45.8%	27.6%
Some college or associate's	6.8%	39.2%
Bachelor's degree	0.0%	7.5%
Graduate or professional degree	0.5%	22.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Desert Shores	El Centro Naval Air Facility
Drove alone	95.2%	30.2%
Carpooled	4.8%	13.6%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	38.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	0.0%	6.1%
Other means	0.0%	11.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Desert Shores	El Centro Naval Air Facility
1-unit, detached	66.4%	20.0%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	57.1%
2 to 4 units	0.0%	22.9%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	33.6%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Desert Shores	El Centro Naval Air Facility
Poverty rate	9.4%	0.0%
Average household size	2.57	3.46
Mean commute (minutes)	25	8
Median year structure built	1985	1990