El Centro is the most populous city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban area and principal city of the El Centro metropolitan area which encompasses all of Imperial County.

El Centro is also the most populous U.S. city to lie entirely below sea level (−42 feet or −13 meters).

Barker, who purchased the land on which El Centro was eventually built for about $40 per acre ($100 per hectare) and invested $100,000 ($3,400,000 in 2023 dollars[5]) in improvements.

Spanish explorer Melchor Díaz was one of the first Europeans to visit the area around El Centro and Imperial Valley in 1540.

One reason for this rapid early growth was El Centro's successful battle with the City of Imperial to become the county seat.

These cities were in a horse race to win the prize of being the Valley's leading city and the intense competition is measured by the fact that it took twenty years to get a county fair started because of strong local loyalties on the County Board of Supervisors.

El Centro had also become the location of the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) administrative offices.

The El Centro Naval Air Facility 10 miles (16 km) to the west is home to the annual Blue Angels flight maneuvering event.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.1 square miles (29 km2), of which over 99% is land.

In this region, the geology is dominated by the transition of the tectonic plate boundary from rift to transverse fault.

The southernmost strands of the San Andreas Fault connect the northernmost extensions of the East Pacific Rise.

Consequently, the region is subject to earthquakes, and the crust is being stretched, resulting in a sinking of the terrain over time.

At times, the climate can resemble that of tropical areas in the Caribbean due to Gulf of California moisture surges.

Humid air from the gulf surges northward into the Imperial Valley and El Centro area, making the summer heat oppressive at times.

This leads to daily thunderstorms that can bring hail, downpours, lightning, and dust storms, more commonly known as Haboob.

This can lead to significantly higher than normal precipitation, at times bringing heavy rain.

El Niño and La Niña play a large role in how much rain falls in the winter, La Nina typically brings drier and cooler conditions to El Centro and surrounding areas.

However, on December 12, 1934, a very powerful winter storm brought record cold and snowfall to El Centro and surrounding areas of the Imperial Valley.

Being below sea level, El Centro has warm days and cool nights in winter.

Between November and March in winter periods, El Centro-area farmers harvest lettuce for $8–10 per hour.

During March the harvest moves to the north and is no longer in El Centro; in previous eras farmers migrated, while in the first decade of the 21st century many collect unemployment benefits during the summer.

[17] Being the commercial center of Imperial County, fifty percent of the jobs in the El Centro come from the service and retail sector.

[17] Due to its desert environment and proximity to Los Angeles, California, movies are sometimes filmed in the sand dunes outside the agricultural portions of the Imperial County.

These have included Return of the Jedi, Stargate, The Scorpion King, Jarhead, Into the Wild, and American Sniper.

Timothy Kelly, the head of the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation, estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 residents of Mexicali work in El Centro.

The Economist added that the collapse of the housing market eliminated some construction jobs; the magazine countered that the scenario is true in many places in the United States.

[19] A national report on the effects of the "Great recession" of 2008/09 has found El Centro and the Imperial Valley in the top 5 poorest medium-sized cities in the U.S. in poverty and unemployment rates.

[20] While the majority of the residents in this community are Hispanic, there is a diverse population with a wide array of interests.

San Diego State University's Calexico Campus offers a variety of bachelor's and master's degrees.

[33] Federally, El Centro is in California's 25th congressional district, represented by Democrat Raul Ruiz.