Indian Wells, California
29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Cathedral City-Palm Desert census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92210. It lies near Point Happy. The Survey maps it on the La Quinta quadrangle. 4,757 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 89 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1904 to 1984The same ground, surveyed 80 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresIndian Wells fell from 4,958 to 4,757 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 4,958 | |
| 2020 | 4,757 | -201 (-4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 29 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1904 USGS Indio quadrangle1:125000, 7 printings
- 1941 USGS Toro Peak quadrangle1:62500
- 1944 USGS Toro peak quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS La Quinta quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1959 USGS Palm Desert quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1959 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1960 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Ana quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Palm Springs quadrangle1:100000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
1,126 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,126 fires within 5 miles of Indian Wells between 1992 and 2020, burning about 973 acres in total. 20 started naturally. 113 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 599 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 159 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 113 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 99 |
| Smoking | 69 |
| Debris and open burning | 30 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 28 |
| Natural | 20 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 8 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Riverside Unit | AVENIDA MONTEZUMA LAQ |
| 8 September 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Riverside Unit | LOCAL |
| 7 September 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Riverside Unit | LOCAL-TREE FIRE |
| 7 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.0 acres | Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge | RANCH |
| 7 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge | LOCAL |
| 7 September 2000 | Natural | under an acre | California Desert District | LOCAL FIRE |
| 6 September 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Riverside Unit | LOCAL |
| 6 September 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Riverside Unit | LOCAL |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
3 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Indian Wells in 3 storm reports between 2015 and 2021: 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Indian Wells | $45,000 | Photos shared by a local media outlet indicate a downburst/microburst was likely the cause of extensive wind damage in the northeast side of Indian Wells in the Palm Desert Country Club area. Based on damage, winds were estimated at 60 to 70 mph. Multiple large trees and power lines down, along with roofing material and other debris on the ground. Trees fell on an apartment on Elkhorn Trail and damaged the roof. A total of 5288 customers lost power due to downed lines. Fred Waring Drive between El Dorado and Warner Trail in Palm Desert was also closed due to flooding and debris. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Indian Wells | - | A couple of trees were downed at La Quinta High School by high wind outflow from thunderstorms to the south. Southeast wind gusts 40 to 45 mph in the lower Coachella Valley were observed. |
| January 2017 | Flood | Indian Wells | - | Heavy mountain rain produced flows in the Whitewater River and Palm Canyon Creek that lead to periodic closures of low water crossings in the Coachella Valley, including: Golf Club Dr., Gene Autry Trail., Indian Canyon Dr., Vista Chino Rd., Frank Sinatra Dr., Araby Dr. and Vista Chino. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Desert Country | 1.6 miles | 29 | |
| Bermuda Dunes | 2.0 miles | 29 | |
| Myoma (historical) | 2.8 miles | 28 | |
| Sunnyside Estates | 3.4 miles | 30 | |
| Palm Desert | 3.5 miles | 29 | |
| La Quinta | 3.8 miles | 29 | |
| Indio | 4.9 miles | 30 | |
| Rancho Mirage | 5.7 miles | 31 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Indian Wells | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q490714 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1660797. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.











