CITY PROFILE
El Centro, CA
WHAT LIVING HERE IS LIKE
El Centro, California is a smaller metro in the Imperial Valley with a hot climate, abundant sunshine, and a dry climate—expect intense summer heat and minimal rain. Homes here are on the pricier side of our dataset, so affordability is limited relative to comparable smaller metros. If you're drawn to high heat and don't mind a compact metro area, factor in the housing costs carefully.
By the numbers
| Typical home value | $379K · Zillow, May 2026 (ZHVI) |
|---|---|
| Typical rent | $1,869/mo · Zillow, May 2026 (ZORI) |
| Average temperature | 23.8°C · warmest 34.9°C · coolest 13.3°C · NASA POWER |
| Annual precipitation | 105 mm · NASA POWER |
| Sunshine (solar energy) | 5.93 kWh/m²/day · NASA POWER (annual mean) |
| Metro size rank (US) | #245 · Zillow SizeRank |
Match scores
- Affordable to buy82
- Affordable to rent63
- Climate comfort78
- Plenty of sunshine99
- Big-city amenities41
Scores are 0–100, normalised across the metros we cover, derived from the sourced figures above (higher = better on that factor). A research aid, not a recommendation to move. Job market, safety, and healthcare access need key-gated feeds (BLS, FBI, Census) not yet wired — see the methodology.
Where to look next
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