HomeCaliforniaImperial CountyImperial city
Imperial city, California: commercial real estate data.
Imperial city is a Census city of 21,430 people across 6.31 square miles of land, in Imperial County. Median household income is $90,195, 69.5 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 22 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $22.4 m.
80 sourced place values · tier FULL · 9 sections · underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency
Imperial
What Imperial is
- Census place typecity
- Land area6.31 sq mi
- Water area0 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land3,398
- 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.
Imperial
How many people live in Imperial
- Population21,430
- Median age31.3
- Population under 187,454
- Share under 1834.8 percent
- Population 65 and over2,045
- Share 65 and over9.5 percent
- Households5,980
- Family households4,566
- Share of households that are families76.4 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Imperial
Income and work in Imperial
- Median household income$90,195
- Per capita income$29,877
- Civilian labor force8,950
- Employed8,213
- Unemployed737 plus or minus 291
- Unemployment rate8.2 percent plus or minus 3.1
- Adults 25 and over11,765
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher83.0 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher22.7 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree6.6 percent plus or minus 2.1
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Imperial
Housing in Imperial
- Housing units6,732
- Occupied units5,980
- Vacant units752 plus or minus 340
- Vacancy rate11.2 percent plus or minus 5.0
- Owner occupied4,154
- Renter occupied1,826 plus or minus 395
- Ownership rate69.5 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$360,900
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,255 plus or minus $316
- Annual rent as a share of median income16.7 percent plus or minus 4.4
- Single family units5,303
- Share single family78.8 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more1,429 plus or minus 429
- Share in buildings of two or more21.2 percent plus or minus 6.2
- Mobile homes0
- Median year structure built2002
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Imperial
How Imperial gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute7,462
- Commuting under 15 minutes3,106 plus or minus 726
- Share commuting under 15 minutes41.6 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more1,035 plus or minus 323
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more13.9 percent plus or minus 4.0
- Drove alone79.1 percent
- Carpooled11.1 percent plus or minus 3.8
- Public transport0.0 percent
- Walked2.3 percent plus or minus 2.2
- Worked from home7.5 percent plus or minus 3.7
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Imperial
SBA loans in Imperial (7(a))
- Approvals22
- Gross approval$22,384,800
- Average approval$1,017,491
- Median approval$270,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$3,950,000
- Largest approval$4,300,000
- Jobs supported227
- Jobs per approval10.3
- Loans with a final outcome5
- Paid in full4
- Charged off1
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more45.5 percent
- Share to franchises9.1 percent
- Distinct lenders11
- Distinct industries by NAICS15
A charge-off rate is not published here. only 5 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a rate over that few outcomes would move several points on one loan.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Imperial
SBA loans in Imperial (504)
- Approvals7
- Gross approval$4,313,000
- Average approval$616,143
- Median approval$358,000
- Largest approval$2,097,000
- Jobs supported26
- Loans with a final outcome3
- Charged off0
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs4
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Imperial
Flood risk in Imperial
- Listed NFIP communities1
- Of those, participating1
- NFIP community number060071
- Currently effective map date(NSFHA)
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 Imperial
Imperial County context, not Imperial 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 Imperial 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 Imperial. 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
Imperial questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Imperial, California?
21,430, in 5,980 households. Imperial city covers 6.31 square miles of land, which is 3,398 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Imperial 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 Imperial?
$90,195. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $360,900. Median gross rent is $1,255 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Imperial businesses?
22 7(a) approvals totalling $22.4 m, across 11 lenders, median approval $270,000, plus 7 504 approvals worth $4.3 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Imperial, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Imperial borrowers get paid back?
No rate is published for Imperial. only 5 resolved loans, too few to publish a rate, and a percentage over that few outcomes would move several points on a single loan. The counts are shown instead.
Is Imperial in the National Flood Insurance Program?
Yes. Imperial appears in the FEMA Community Status Book as community 060071, 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 Imperial 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 Imperial.
Is zoning published for Imperial?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.