Peri-urban sub-markets

Even though TV and media is dominated by Los Angeles and New York, most people live in small cities in the U.S. In fact, the average person lives in a average city of 20,000 inhabitants.

If it's in a rural area (which is most of the U.S.), it serves as a market center for the surrounding population and towns. So the city population might be a small proportion of the actual number of people who shop in its stores and use its streets.

One such market center is Yucca Valley, California. It's similar to two other cities in Southern California, Blythe and Barstow.

	Barstow	Blythe	Yucca Valley
2014 Population	23,292	19,832	21,053
2013 Median Household Income	$56,865	$54,556	$56,369
2013 Total Housing Units within 2 miles of city	9,382	4,707	5,721

However, the surrounding population shops in each town, and their make-up changes the economy.

Demographics within a Twenty Mile Radius (not including other metro areas)
2013 Total Housing Units within 20 miles of city	15,990	9,762	66,267
2013 Employed Population 16+	13,770	6,586	48,674
Retail Consumer Spending: Retail Goods	$252,395,420	$125,670,463	$955,504,508

So the retail economy of Yucca Valley is more than four times that of Barstow, in second place: