HomeCaliforniaImperial CountyEl Centro city
El Centro city, California: commercial real estate data.
El Centro city is a Census city of 44,240 people across 12.12 square miles of land, in Imperial County. Median household income is $53,082, 49.5 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 44 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $42.4 m.
81 sourced place values · tier FULL · 9 sections · underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency
El Centro
What El Centro is
- Census place typecity
- Land area12.12 sq mi
- Water area0.02 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land3,651
- County holding the largest share of its areaImperial County, 100.0 percent
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
El Centro
How many people live in El Centro
- Population44,240
- Median age31.0
- Population under 1813,416
- Share under 1830.3 percent
- Population 65 and over6,189
- Share 65 and over14.0 percent
- Households12,890
- Family households9,794
- Share of households that are families76.0 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
El Centro
Income and work in El Centro
- Median household income$53,082
- Per capita income$23,590
- Civilian labor force18,336
- Employed16,527
- Unemployed1,809
- Unemployment rate9.9 percent
- Adults 25 and over26,599
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher73.3 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher14.9 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree5.6 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
El Centro
Housing in El Centro
- Housing units14,656
- Occupied units12,890
- Vacant units1,766
- Vacancy rate12.0 percent
- Owner occupied6,377
- Renter occupied6,513
- Ownership rate49.5 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$323,100
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,052
- Annual rent as a share of median income23.8 percent
- Single family units8,239
- Share single family56.2 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more5,278
- Share in buildings of two or more36.0 percent
- Mobile homes1,096
- Median year structure built1982
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
El Centro
How El Centro gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute15,174
- Commuting under 15 minutes6,495
- Share commuting under 15 minutes42.8 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more3,176
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more20.9 percent
- Drove alone76.7 percent
- Carpooled13.3 percent plus or minus 3.7
- Public transport0.0 percent
- Walked2.1 percent plus or minus 1.2
- Worked from home5.9 percent plus or minus 2.1
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
El Centro
SBA loans in El Centro (7(a))
- Approvals44
- Gross approval$42,371,200
- Average approval$962,982
- Median approval$350,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$3,107,000
- Largest approval$5,000,000
- Jobs supported524
- Jobs per approval11.9
- Loans with a final outcome14
- Paid in full14
- Charged off0
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans0.0 percent
- Median term300 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more50.0 percent
- Share to franchises13.6 percent
- Distinct lenders25
- Distinct industries by NAICS29
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
El Centro
SBA loans in El Centro (504)
- Approvals25
- Gross approval$21,820,000
- Average approval$872,800
- Median approval$496,000
- Largest approval$4,812,000
- Jobs supported274
- Loans with a final outcome3
- Charged off0
- Median term300 months
- Distinct CDCs7
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
El Centro
Flood risk in El Centro
- Listed NFIP communities1
- Of those, participating1
- NFIP community number060670
- Currently effective map date09/26/08(M)
This community carries no Community Rating System class, so no CRS premium discount applies to it.
FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program Community Status Book, Community Status Book, as retrieved.
Imperial County, not El Centro
Imperial County context, not El Centro figures
These are Imperial County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as El Centro measurements.
- Establishments in Imperial County2,677
- Employment at those establishments, Imperial County34,323
- Covered employment, Imperial County67,166
- Average annual pay, Imperial County$54,639
- Average weekly wage, Imperial County$1,051
- Housing units permitted, Imperial County253
- Of those, single family, Imperial County153
- County product, 2024, Imperial County$12,907,423,000
- County product change over the prior year, Imperial County-0.2 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Imperial County$40,926
Every figure in this section is published for Imperial County as a whole and is not a measurement of El Centro. It is here because a county backdrop is what a credit committee reads a place against, and it is labelled so that it can never be quoted as the place's own.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024. US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- Parcel level detail, zoning and flood zone at an address are resolved in the platform, not on this page.
SBA figures count approvals to borrowers whose address is in the place. They are not approvals for projects inside the place boundary: the tape records a borrower city and a project county, and those can differ.
Common questions
El Centro questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in El Centro, California?
44,240, in 12,890 households. El Centro city covers 12.12 square miles of land, which is 3,651 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is El Centro in?
Imperial County, which holds 100.0 percent of the place by area. Source: US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage.
What is the median household income in El Centro?
$53,082. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $323,100. Median gross rent is $1,052 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to El Centro businesses?
44 7(a) approvals totalling $42.4 m, across 25 lenders, median approval $350,000, plus 25 504 approvals worth $21.8 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in El Centro, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to El Centro borrowers get paid back?
Of the 14 loans that have reached a final outcome, 14 were paid in full and 0 charged off, a charge off rate of 0.0 percent. Loans still running are excluded because they have not yet succeeded or failed.
Is El Centro in the National Flood Insurance Program?
Yes. El Centro appears in the FEMA Community Status Book as community 060670, with no Community Rating System class, so no CRS discount applies. Whether a specific parcel sits in a mapped special flood hazard area is an address level question the platform answers.
Are the county figures on this page El Centro figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Imperial County as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of El Centro.
Is zoning published for El Centro?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.