AreaProfile

Riverside, California

Area Profile

319,069 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Riverside, in Riverside County.

53
Area Score
Bottom 14% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity88th of 139 published cities51
GrowthTop 49% of 134 published cities54
Housing affordability124th of 150 published cities53
ClimateTop 8% of 149 published cities90
Physical resilience149th of 150 published cities4
AccessTop 36% of 149 published cities97
Economic stabilityTop 32% of 150 published cities59
The quick read

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 25% of median household income.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, earthquake and wildfire.

A major airport is 14 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
319,069
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$91,045
Top 24% nationally
Density
3,932/sq mi
81.1 sq mi of land
Median age
33.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Riverside County
California
Metro area
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
Nearest major airport
SBD
14 mi · San Bernardino Intl
Median home value
$584,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.9% is lower than 30% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.4% over the past year, to 154,204 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,764$91,045Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$689$34,896Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate12.2%Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute33.8 minTop 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher25.7%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment154,204Top 47%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.9%Top 38%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.4%Bottom 39%June 2026
Labor force162,098Top 46%June 2026
Labor force participation64.8%Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$65,160Bottom 38%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$48,400Bottom 30%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 29%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.9%Top 30%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/067.93.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.9% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202491k77k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $91,045 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides102,760$34,320
Stockers and Order Fillers77,160$43,200
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand69,820$46,060
Fast Food and Counter Workers51,310$42,280
Retail Salespersons41,270$36,720
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers40,230$60,580

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,914 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.4 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
25.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,914
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$584,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income6.42Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate56.8%Bottom 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,10599,910Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$33$1,914Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,570$584,800Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.2%Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.7%Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
54/ 100
Top 49% of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 323,757 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

At 1.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
596
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.9
Bottom 24% nationally
Year over year
+106%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
48.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024324k314k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420251k270
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−22%).

Weather & climate

11 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 44°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 9.4 inches.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station RIVERSIDE MUNI AP, 2.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation9.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low44°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months111991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing25°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

4 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and wildfire.

WildfireHigh
Inland floodingHigh
EarthquakeHigh
LandslideModerate
Heat waveModerate
AvalancheModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, lightning, hail, winter weather, volcanic activity, drought, strong wind, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

8 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 14 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
San Bernardino IntlSBD14 mi10,000 ft
Ontario IntlONT14 mi12,197 ft
Long Beach (Daugherty Fld)LGB44 mi10,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
53
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Riverside

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
9250388,395$96,26853
9250764,015$75,30350
9250457,132$92,47753
9250553,419$84,90651
9250645,086$121,45957
9250836,909$147,67458