Your Guide to Buying a Home in El Centro, CA

Buying a Home in El Centro, California

El Centro is located in Imperial County

As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 37,835. El Centro is located east of San Diego and is the commercial hub for Imperial County, of which it is the county seat, near the Mexican border. It is a processing and shipping center for a heavily irrigated agricultural region (vegetables, grain, cotton, livestock), and there is light manufacturing. A U.S. naval air station is nearby. It lies within the agriculturally rich Imperial Valley, where a once barren desert has been transformed into productive farmland that produces tomatoes, sugar beets, melons and lettuce.

Imperial County extends over 4,500 square miles, bordering Mexico on the south, Riverside County to the north, San Diego County to the west and the state of Arizona to the east. The terrain varies from 235 feet below sea level at the Salton Sea to 4,500 feet at Blue Angel Peak, and the climate is hot and dry with little moisture.

There are two international border crossings nearby for commercial and noncommercial vehicles. Covering 10.75 square miles, is the largest city in Imperial County. It is located 616 miles southwest of San Francisco, 117 miles east of San Diego and 245 miles west of Phoenix AZ. and just 15 minutes from the international industrial complexes in Mexicali, Baja California. El Centro is accessible via Interstate 8, State Highway 86 and State Highway 111.

Several state and Federal government offices are located in El Centro, such as the Bureau of Land Management, Federal Bureau of Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters, Social Security Administration, Employment Development Department and Department of Agriculture.

Activities abound in the area, including hiking and back packing, horseback riding, camping, rockhounding and gold panning. Some of the most popular points of interest include the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area and the Algodones Sand Dune System, two of largest sand dune systems in the United States. The Imperial has some crests that reach over 300 feet, and both offer opportunities for solitude, unique photographs and a chance to view rare plants and animals. Other places to visit near El Centro are the Tumco Historic Mine Site, Mesquite Mine and Overlook and Interpretive Trail, the Yuha Basin and the Indian Pass Road and Wilderness Area.