Cathedral City, CA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·California·Cathedral City

Riverside County · Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario · population 52,517

Cathedral City, CA
Image: Wikipedia · Cathedral City, California
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
55
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Cathedral City stands

Home values down 3.8% in the last year.

Median home $484,056
1-year -3.8%
5-yr CAGR +4.4%
vs 5-yr peak -5.7%
Population +0.5%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-07$484k$228k$330k$432k$534k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
40/100
Car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
76/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$2,679/mo$2,090$2,467$2,844202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent111119100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 15.1
Lean buy

At a 15.1 price-to-rent ratio, Cathedral City is in the 'depends on horizon' zone. Buy if you'll be there 5+ years and value flexibility on the home; rent if you might move, want zero maintenance friction, or expect rates to drop.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
31 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
62 · w22%
Distance from peak
58 · w18%
Population growth
55 · w16%
Rent YoY
64 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
73 · w10%
Long thesis

Cathedral City has held up across the cycle: home values at $484,056 with +4.4% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Cathedral City is a West Coast market off recent highs, and the regional fundamentals (taxes, regulation, out-migration) are still working against it. The bear case isn't that prices go to zero — it's that they don't recover meaningfully for years.

About Cathedral City

Cathedral City is a city in Riverside County, California, with an estimated population of 52,517. It anchors the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area. The median home value in Cathedral City is $484,056 as of 2026-04, down 3.8% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +4.4% annual growth (-5.7% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Cathedral City average $2,679 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+2.9%). The composite momentum score is 55 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

○The data is the data: Cathedral City has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 1-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Cooling: -3.8% over the trailing year — momentum has stalled.
○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Cathedral City (Wikipedia)

Cathedral City is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. Situated between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, the city has the second largest population, after Indio, of the nine cities in the Coachella Valley. Its population was 51,493 at the 2020 census, a slight increase from 51,200 at the 2010 census.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorRaymond Gregory
Area22.75 sq mi
Elevation328 ft
EstablishedNovember 16, 1981Cite web
NicknameCat City
Density2289.19/sq mi

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Riverside County right now.

NWS active alerts (CA)California Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Riverside County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Cathedral City

8 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Cathedral Canyon Cove$634,609-4.6%
2The Grove$587,592-3.0%
3La Pasada$557,715-7.4%
4McPherson-Pioneer Ranch$521,178-4.7%
5Sunny Sands$515,741-4.5%
6Panorama$498,203-3.6%
7Rio Vista$479,069-3.9%
8Whitewater$406,470-3.0%

Cities like Cathedral City

Santee, CA53 · StablePalm Desert, CA55 · StableDesert Hot Springs, CA61 · StablePalm Springs, CA54 · Stable

Run the numbers for Cathedral City

ToolCan I afford Cathedral City?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Cathedral City rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Cathedral City to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolCathedral City cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
60° / 41°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
82° / 60°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
258
~71% of year
Annual precip
22″ rain
8″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
Very high
Earthquake
Very high
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Cathedral City listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
65%
Moderate climate
Median household income
$91,500
California state median
Top industries (state-level)
TechEntertainmentAgriculture

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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