Today we continue our exploration of some of the invaluable data found in our just released 2022 Greater Palm Springs Economic Report. The retail sector is a primary driver of the US economy. So too in the Coachella Valley. To best display this, I have taken the data from Figure 46 of the report – Retail Sales per capita, Coachella Valley & Major Inland Cities, 2021 – and mapped it. That figure ranked retail sales per capita for twenty cities in the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties). Two of our cities, Palm Desert and Palm Springs, are in the top 5 of that list. And four of our cities are in the bottom 5 demonstrating the disproportionate distribution and size of retail businesses in the valley.
The following map shows the twenty cities ranked in the Summit Report figure. The Coachella Valley really punches above its weight in retail when comparing the population and area of the Coachella Valley with the remaining Inland Empire. The second and third spots are held by retail supporting denser commuter suburban areas. In contrast, the fourth spot is the more tourist-oriented retail of Temecula similar to retail in our valley.
