92278Twentynine Palms, California

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 92278.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: opportunity. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Growth3772nd of 5,428 ZIP areas measured38
Climate6104th of 6,789 ZIP areas measured58
Physical resilience6522nd of 6,709 ZIP areas measured7
Access5245th of 6,791 ZIP areas measured81
The quick read

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, earthquake and wildfire.

A typical July reaches 104°F and a typical January falls to 42°F, on thirty-year normals.

At a glance

Population
3,913
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
Density
9,982/sq mi
0.4 sq mi of land
Median age
21.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Twentynine Palms
California
Metro area
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
Nearest major airport
PSP
38 mi · Palm Springs Intl
Median home value

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.5% is lower than 5% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.4% over the past year, to 7,010 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Per capita income ±$1,271$26,090Bottom 15%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute8.5 minBottom 1%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher12.2%Bottom 17%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment7,010Bottom 1%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.9%Bottom 34%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.4%Bottom 35%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force7,497Bottom 1%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation99.7%Top 1%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$65,160Bottom 36%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$48,400Bottom 29%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.7%Bottom 11%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate6.5%Top 5%of 6,544June 2026
Largest occupations — Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides102,760$34,320
Stockers and Order Fillers77,160$43,200
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand69,820$46,060
Fast Food and Counter Workers51,310$42,280
Retail Salespersons41,270$36,720
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers40,230$60,580

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Twentynine Palms, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
38/ 100
Ranks 3772 of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
53
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.9
Bottom 39% nationally
Year over year
+47%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Twentynine Palms, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 104°F and January a low of 42°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 3.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 87, in the Moderate band, and about 144 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station TWENTYNINE PALMS, 7.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND0.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index185.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation3.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low42°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high104°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1001442024 calendar year
Median air quality index87.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing40°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
87
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
185
90th percentile index
Days above 100
144
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

7 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and wildfire.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingHigh
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, heat wave, strong wind, lightning, hail, tornado, winter weather, drought, volcanic activity, cold wave.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

San Bernardino County records 4.3 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 7.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 19.8 per 100,000 residents in San Bernardino County.

Homicide
4.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
7.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
19.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
9.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for San Bernardino County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 92278 rather than 92278 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 38 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Palm Springs IntlPSP38 mi10,000 ft
Jacqueline Cochran RgnlTRM42 mi8,500 ft
San Bernardino IntlSBD68 mi10,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

92278 vs Twentynine Palms

How this ZIP area compares with Twentynine Palms as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

92278
Twentynine Palms
Per capita income
$26,090
vs
$31,188
Population density
9,982/sq mi
vs
466/sq mi
Bachelor's degree or higher
12.2%
vs
26.2%
Median age
21.1
vs
24.8

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.