Slab City, also called The Slabs, is an unincorporated, off-the-grid alternative lifestyle community[1] consisting largely of snowbirds[2] in the Salton Trough area of the Sonoran Desert, in Imperial County, California. It took its name from concrete slabs that remained after the World War II Marine Corps Camp Dunlap training camp was torn down.[3] Slab City is known for attracting people who want to live outside mainstream society.[4
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune‘s Fred Dickey in 2012, the most common source of income among the permanent residents is “probably” SSI checks.[19] In 2020, Ranker indicated that Slab City’s income mainly comes from tourists and donations.[20] In 1995, almost every resident of Slab City collected disability benefits, social security or unemployment. Another steady source of income at the time was selling salvaged goods to visitors.[21]
Many residents use generators or solar panels to generate electricity.[22] Clean water is dispensed from a tank at the community church.[23] The closest body of civilization with proper law enforcement is approximately four miles (six kilometers) southwest of Slab City, in Niland, where residents often went for basic shopping as of 1990.[16] Residents were still obtaining essentials from Niland, a town of about 1,000, 30 years later in 2020.[23]
