Chino vs Riverside

Which is the better fit for you?

Chino, CA
48
Area Score
Bottom 13% nationally
Riverside, CA
46
Area Score
Bottom 10% nationally

Want a third or fourth place beside these? Open them in the shortlist and add more.

Chino receives the higher standardized Area Score. That reflects AreaProfile's weighting, not a judgment about which place is better to live in.

If you are moving

What the difference in prices, rent, homes and weather comes to, using the published figures for the two places. Add your income to see what it would take to keep pace.

Moving from Chino to Riverside

It stays in this browser and is never sent anywhere.

Everyday prices
About the same
Regional price level 107.3 against 107.3 (US = 100). Both places sit in the same price region, so the index cannot tell them apart.
Income to keep the same purchasing power
Enter your household income to see it.
A new two-bedroom lease
−$389 a month
HUD benchmarks it at $2,201 in Riverside against $2,590 in Chino.
The median home
14% less
$584,800 in Riverside against $683,400 in Chino.
The weather you would swap
Winters 2°F milder
Normal January lows are 44°F in Riverside against 42°F in Chino; July highs are 93°F against 94°F (summers 1°F cooler).

These are differences between published figures, not a forecast of your budget. Income and sales taxes, commuting, schools, insurance and the job you would actually get are not in them, and a price index describes a metropolitan area, so two places in one metro read the same. HUD’s rent is a benchmark for a new lease, not a listing.

Signals

Chino
Riverside
Opportunity: Chino is the more favorable of the two.
Opportunity
49 · Bottom 34%
vs
45 · Bottom 27%
Growth: Chino is the more favorable of the two.
Growth
60 · Top 29%
vs
57 · Top 36%
Climate: Riverside is the more favorable of the two.
Climate
89 · Top 5%
vs
90 · Top 5%
Physical resilience: Chino is the more favorable of the two.
Physical resilience
7 · Bottom 2%
vs
4 · Bottom 1%
Housing affordability: Riverside is the more favorable of the two.
Housing affordability
36 · Bottom 7%
vs
42 · Bottom 12%
Schools: Chino is the more favorable of the two.
Schools
32 · Bottom 28%
vs
27 · Bottom 21%
Access
100 · Top 1%
vs
100 · Top 1%
Economic stability: Chino is the more favorable of the two.
Economic stability
58 · Top 49%
vs
54 · Bottom 43%

Measured values

MetricChinoRiversideSource period
Population92,652319,0692024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income$104,682 — more favorable$91,0452024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income$37,217 — more favorable$34,8962024 ACS 5-Year
Population density3,133/sq mi3,932/sq mi2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value$683,400$584,8002024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent$2,336$1,914 — more favorable2024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, two bedroom$2,590$2,201 — more favorableFY2026
Cost of living index107.3107.32023
Homeownership rate64.0%56.8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment rate5.0% — more favorable5.1%July 2026
Employment change (year over year)−1.8%−1.7% — more favorableJuly 2026
Bachelor's degree or higher — the two are too close to separate27.2% ±2%25.7% ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate7.8% — more favorable11.5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units permitted (12 months)27459612 months ending July 2026
Permits per 1,000 residents3.0 — more favorable1.912 months ending July 2026
Permit change (year over year)−12.5%+105.5%12 months ending July 2026
Average July high94°F93°F1991-2020 Normals
Average January low42°F44°F1991-2020 Normals
Annual precipitation10.0"9.4"1991-2020 Normals
Distance to major airport6 mi — more favorable9 miNASR current cycle
Average commute35.9 min33.8 min — more favorable2024 ACS 5-Year
Median age36.233.62024 ACS 5-Year
Public schools17762024-25 school year
Students per teacher21.8 — more favorable22.82024-25 school year
Math proficiency34.3% — more favorable32.6%2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency49.9% — more favorable49.4%2018-19 school year
Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility71.7%77.1%2024-25 school year

A bolded value is the more favorable of the two where the metric has a clear direction. Metrics like population and density have no inherent better or worse and are shown unweighted.

One row above shows both figures with a ± margin and neither in bold. Those come from the American Community Survey, which samples rather than counts, and the gap between the two is smaller than the uncertainty on the figures themselves — so the survey did not find a difference to report, and calling either one the winner would be reading a result out of noise. This is common on these pages by construction: Chino and Riverside were paired because they are alike, and the more alike two places are, the less a sample of this size can tell them apart.

The number of units permitted is not marked because the larger place always permits more; the per-resident rate is the fair comparison. The year-over-year change is not marked either: a percentage on fewer than 300 units swings on a handful of permits.

Physical risk tradeoff

Chino

Elevated or high exposure: wildfire, inland flooding, earthquake.

Riverside

Elevated or high exposure: wildfire, inland flooding, earthquake.

Your best match

Weight what matters to you. Your preferences stay in this browser and never change either Area Score.

Chino
—
Chino: Your Score
48
Area Score
Riverside
—
Riverside: Your Score
46
Area Score

Select your priorities to see which of the two fits them better.

Full profiles: Chino, CA · Riverside, CA · How this is calculated: methodology