Searles Valley CDP is about 170 miles northeast of Los Angeles, on State Route 178.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Searles Valley has a total area of 27.2 km2 (10.5 sq mi), all land.

It contains rich deposits of chemicals, including borax and rock salt.

[4] Searles Valley is known for its isolation and desolation,[5] as well as the nearby Trona Pinnacles a few miles to the south.

The Trona Pinnacles are an unusual landscape of more than 500 tufa spires, some as high as 140 feet, rising from the bed of the Searles Lake basin.

The local school plays on a dirt football field because the high level of salt kills grass.

In July 2019, Searles Valley was impacted by a series of earthquakes, the principal events (with magnitudes of 6.4, 5.4, and 7.1 Mw) occurring from 12 to 18 kilometers west on the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.

At 10:33 AM a second and much stronger earthquake struck – a 6.4 magnitude quake 12 kilometers southwest of Searles Valley.

[8] Over 100 aftershocks impacted Searles Valley and nearby Ridgecrest, California.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Searles Valley had a median household income of $32,448, with 21.7% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

[11] As of the 2000 United States Census[12] of 2000, there were 1,885 people, 738 households, and 495 families residing in the CDP.