County Maps US

Imperial County, California

A county in California, ranked 31 of 58 by population.

CountyFIPS 06025

Within California
Imperial County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks El Centro, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
181,411
+1,879 (+1.0%) since 2020
Land area
4,175
square miles. A further 6.8% of the total area is water
Population density
43.4
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
El Centro
Seat of county government.
Established
1907
118 years ago
Largest city
El Centro city
Population 44,382.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Imperial County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Imperial County, California from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 508 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Imperial County ranks

Position among the 58 counties of California, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn CaliforniaNationally
Population181,41131st of 58388th of 3,144
Land area4,175 sq mi10th of 58115th of 3,144
Population density43.4 per sq mi41st of 581,599th of 3,144
Median household income$57,68157th of 582,289th of 3,143

Full data for Imperial County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population181,411Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020179,532Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?179,705Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area4,175 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area305.1 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area4,481 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?43.4 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$57,681American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$309,600American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age33.2American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households49,644American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units58,044American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+1,054
2,278 births, 1,224 deaths
Net migration
-2,401
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 4 areas bordering Imperial County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Riverside CountyCalifornia85 mi2,544,916
San Diego CountyCalifornia57 mi3,282,248
La Paz CountyArizona48 mi16,711
Yuma CountyArizona37 mi224,449

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 58 counties of California

Open the interactive California county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.