Palm Desert is located just southeast of Palm Springs between Palm Springs and Indio along Highway 111 near the Salton Sea and the Joshua Tree National Forest.

It is one of America's 100 Best Retirement Towns, as ranked by Where to Retire magazine, 2001. (NOTE: Florence, Oregon ranks the #1 American retirement community nationwide in 2004). Palm Desert was also the filming location for the 1963 movie, "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World".

Palm Desert is part of the Riverside-San Bernardino, California metro area.