The 2010 United States Census reported that Needles had a population of 4,844.The population density was 154.9 people per square mile (59.8/km²). The racial makeup of Needles was

The Census reported that 4,839 people (99.9% of the population) lived in households, 5 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 1,918 households, out of which 650 (33.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 712 (37.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 331 (17.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 159 (8.3%) had a male householder with no wife present.

There were 186 (9.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 6 (0.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 588 households (30.7%) were made up of individuals and 238 (12.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52. There were 1,202 families (62.7% of all households); the average family size was 3.12.

The population was spread out with 1,283 people (26.5%) under the age of 18, 401 people (8.3%) aged 18 to 24, 1,038 people (21.4%) aged 25 to 44, 1,357 people (28.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 765 people (15.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.3 years. For every 100 females there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.

There were 2,895 housing units at an average density of 92.6 per square mile (35.7/km²), of which 1,015 (52.9%) were owner-occupied, and 903 (47.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 17.2%. 2,578 people (53.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,261 people (46.7%) lived in rental housing units. The Needles’ trading area, with an approximate population of 127,000, contains the following cities and unincorporated areas:

• Needles, California
• Bullhead City, Arizona
• Laughlin, Nevada
• Kingman, Arizona
• Lake Havasu City, Arizona
• Unincorporated Mohave County, Arizona
• Unincorporated San Bernardino County, California
• Fort Mohave Indian Reservation – 51.5 square miles in the Tri-State area –
• (19.1% in California, 11.7% in Nevada, and 69.2% in Arizona)