Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately 14 miles east of Palm Springs, 121 miles northeast of San Diego and 122 miles east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census. The city was one of the state's fastest growing in the 1980s and 1990s, beginning with 11,801 residents in 1980, doubling to 23,650 in 1990, 35,000 in 1995, and nearly double its 1990 population by 2000. A major center of growth in the Coachella Valley, Palm Desert is a popular retreat for "snowbirds" from colder climates, who swell its population by an estimated 31,000 each winter. Palm Desert has seen more residents become "full-timers", mainly from the coasts and urban centers of California, who have come for both affordable and high-valued homes.