More than 60,000 people pass through Calexico per day. The Police Department of Calexico consists of about 8 patrol cars on duty at any one time. However their traffic department has about 25 employees that patrol and control traffic and intersections often clogged by border commuters.
Major events every year are the Mariachi festival on March 25 followed by the SDSU "Perspective of the Latino Race" art exhibition on April 3.
Curtis Hanson's Losin' It was filmed in Calexico.
The band Calexico is named after the town.
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,109 people, 6,814 households, and 5,982 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,353.4 people per square mile (1,680.1/km²). There were 6,983 housing units at an average density of 1,121.4/sq mi (432.8/km²).
The racial makeup of the city was 46.56% White, 0.49% Black or African American, 0.67% Native American, 1.81% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 46.99% from other races, and 3.45% from two or more races. 95.29% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Calexico has one of the highest Hispanic/Latino percentages of any California city.
There were 6,814 households out of which 53.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% were married couples living together, 22.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.2% were non-families. 10.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.96 and the average family size was 4.21.
In the city the population was spread out with 34.9% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 17.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 87.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.6 males. The amount of teen pregnancy in the city is ranked 3rd in the nation with 17.3% of females between the ages of 14 and 18 being pregnant.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,929, and the median income for a family was $30,277. Males had a median income of $27,712 versus $18,857 for females. The per capita income for the city was $9,981. About 22.6% of families and 25.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.8% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over. The poverty rate in Calexico as a border city is above-average in the US, while in contrast Mexicali is considered prosperous to Mexican standards.