Best suburbs of Riverside

We scored all 62 towns and communities of 10,000+ people in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area on what most people weigh when they pick a suburb: what homes cost compared with local pay, household income, poverty, commute times, education, homeownership and how many families with kids live there. El Sobrante, French Valley and Eastvale come out on top.

top 10 upper half lower half Riverside. Dot size shows population.

The top 25

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
1	El Sobrante, CA	81	13,129	$836,300	5.0×	$165,682	36.6 min	2.9%	6
2	French Valley, CA	79	45,269	$679,800	4.6×	$148,520	41.4 min	4.9%	29
3	Eastvale, CA	77	70,594	$831,900	5.2×	$160,069	37.1 min	4.8%	11
4	Beaumont, CA	73	60,835	$503,500	4.7×	$107,118	35.7 min	10.0%	26
5	Woodcrest, CA	73	17,368	$786,300	5.1×	$153,731	39.6 min	5.7%	4
6	Calimesa, CA	68	11,111	$446,300	5.1×	$87,181	35.8 min	5.3%	20
7	Temecula, CA	66	114,865	$679,700	5.6×	$121,063	36.3 min	7.3%	34
8	Murrieta, CA	63	114,124	$639,800	5.6×	$114,081	37.4 min	5.4%	28
9	Temescal Valley, CA	63	30,069	$710,400	5.8×	$122,051	42.6 min	4.5%	13
10	Mead Valley, CA	62	19,286	$446,200	5.1×	$86,795	32.1 min	9.6%	10
11	Fontana, CA	60	221,223	$586,800	5.7×	$102,821	33.4 min	9.9%	13
12	Lake Elsinore, CA	58	75,067	$566,000	5.6×	$101,888	42.9 min	9.4%	18
13	Yucaipa, CA	58	54,953	$502,100	5.5×	$90,794	32.6 min	9.1%	21
14	Canyon Lake, CA	58	11,113	$699,600	5.5×	$126,926	48.2 min	7.3%	19
15	Home Gardens, CA	58	10,506	$538,700	5.6×	$96,342	36.8 min	6.2%	8
16	Redlands, CA	57	74,128	$618,900	5.9×	$105,041	24.9 min	9.1%	15
17	Wildomar, CA	57	37,889	$552,400	5.3×	$103,506	38.4 min	10.6%	23
18	Perris, CA	56	83,237	$474,700	5.3×	$88,911	37.1 min	10.7%	14
19	La Quinta, CA	56	39,440	$661,600	6.7×	$99,250	25.6 min	8.8%	67
20	Norco, CA	56	25,081	$782,400	6.1×	$127,566	36.5 min	5.6%	9
21	Moreno Valley, CA	54	214,263	$503,700	5.4×	$93,222	35.5 min	11.7%	11
22	Chino, CA	54	96,957	$683,400	6.5×	$104,682	33.1 min	8.0%	15
23	Rancho Mirage, CA	54	17,876	$807,200	7.5×	$107,364	25.3 min	11.7%	57
24	Corona, CA	53	161,734	$700,700	6.4×	$109,242	34.3 min	8.7%	11
25	Menifee, CA	53	118,592	$537,300	5.7×	$93,454	41.5 min	9.5%	21

Show all 62 places

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
26	Jurupa Valley, CA	53	107,311	$574,600	5.9×	$97,550	31.7 min	11.0%	6
27	Chino Hills, CA	52	77,519	$874,900	6.9×	$126,334	36.1 min	7.6%	19
28	Coachella, CA	52	45,411	$367,600	5.4×	$68,596	23.2 min	10.2%	74
29	Rancho Cucamonga, CA	51	177,856	$740,200	6.6×	$111,895	32.3 min	8.0%	17
30	Rialto, CA	51	106,554	$487,900	5.5×	$88,857	31.9 min	12.7%	12
31	Twentynine Palms, CA	50	25,939	$268,200	4.3×	$62,554	15.9 min	14.5%	77
32	Grand Terrace, CA	50	12,936	$517,600	6.2×	$83,628	25.6 min	7.5%	8
33	Indio, CA	49	94,269	$458,400	5.9×	$77,167	23.0 min	11.5%	68
34	Lakeland Village, CA	49	12,236	$463,500	5.4×	$85,748	40.2 min	10.9%	20
35	Phelan, CA	48	18,496	$386,800	4.8×	$79,914	47.4 min	12.7%	35
36	San Jacinto, CA	47	56,014	$433,700	5.4×	$80,647	40.5 min	16.1%	25
37	Bloomington, CA	47	25,698	$469,200	5.7×	$81,640	31.7 min	15.6%	8
38	East Hemet, CA	47	20,257	$419,700	5.1×	$82,096	36.4 min	18.8%	30
39	Lake Arrowhead, CA	47	10,639	$596,500	6.3×	$95,236	37.0 min	11.1%	25
40	Upland, CA	46	79,446	$739,400	7.0×	$105,830	31.1 min	9.3%	20
41	Palm Desert, CA	45	53,259	$542,000	7.0×	$77,513	21.0 min	11.0%	61
42	Valle Vista, CA	45	18,602	$336,200	5.0×	$66,825	37.9 min	16.7%	32
43	Ontario, CA	44	187,013	$607,600	6.8×	$88,941	31.5 min	12.4%	14
44	Cathedral City, CA	43	52,375	$453,100	6.2×	$73,572	19.9 min	13.1%	54
45	Loma Linda, CA	41	25,221	$596,900	7.2×	$82,353	19.6 min	12.3%	11
46	Blythe, CA	41	15,042	$225,000	4.0×	$56,625	19.0 min	18.9%	160
47	Big Bear City, CA	41	11,431	$463,500	6.5×	$71,511	24.9 min	16.1%	41
48	Victorville, CA	40	141,395	$385,600	5.2×	$74,410	40.4 min	18.4%	41
49	Highland, CA	40	57,614	$485,600	6.3×	$77,120	30.4 min	17.1%	18
50	Palm Springs, CA	39	45,315	$604,000	8.3×	$73,119	22.2 min	11.8%	50
51	Barstow, CA	38	24,804	$245,000	4.6×	$53,380	28.2 min	23.1%	67
52	Adelanto, CA	36	38,798	$349,100	5.1×	$68,685	47.0 min	17.2%	44
53	Banning, CA	36	31,852	$352,100	5.7×	$61,764	32.6 min	18.8%	28
54	Colton, CA	35	53,383	$443,800	6.2×	$71,208	27.5 min	13.7%	9
55	Hesperia, CA	34	102,605	$409,000	5.7×	$72,160	42.9 min	16.9%	32
56	Muscoy, CA	34	12,025	$422,600	5.9×	$71,458	31.6 min	26.7%	15
57	Yucca Valley, CA	33	21,887	$363,400	6.1×	$59,563	28.3 min	15.7%	57
58	Apple Valley, CA	31	75,247	$407,400	5.8×	$69,882	41.1 min	16.6%	42
59	Montclair, CA	30	37,563	$569,100	7.3×	$77,659	30.2 min	17.7%	20
60	San Bernardino, CA	29	222,044	$422,300	6.3×	$67,415	29.7 min	18.6%	15
61	Hemet, CA	28	93,649	$352,200	6.1×	$57,719	36.4 min	14.9%	27
62	Desert Hot Springs, CA	28	34,009	$354,800	6.7×	$52,761	28.5 min	18.0%	49

Most affordable homes

Blythe 4 years of income, $225,000
Twentynine Palms 4.3 years of income, $268,200
French Valley 4.6 years of income, $679,800
Barstow 4.6 years of income, $245,000
Beaumont 4.7 years of income, $503,500

Most families with kids

Muscoy 65.8% of households
Perris 56.9% of households
Eastvale 55.0% of households
Adelanto 54.9% of households
French Valley 54.8% of households

How the score works

For each measure we rank the 62 places from worst to best within this metro area, then combine the ranks with these weights: home value compared with household income (20%), household income (15%), poverty rate (15%), average commute (15%), share of adults with a bachelor's degree (10%), homeownership (10%), households with children (10%) and population growth since 2020 (5%). Unincorporated communities have no official growth estimate, so they get the middle value for that part. A score of 100 would mean first on every measure.

Everything comes from the Census Bureau: the American Community Survey 2020-2024 and the 2025 population estimates. We leave out crime and school ratings because comparable official data for every town does not exist; check local school district and police data for the places on your shortlist.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best suburbs of Riverside?

On our data-only score, El Sobrante, French Valley and Eastvale rank highest among 62 places of 10,000+ people in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metro area.

What is the most affordable suburb of Riverside?

Blythe has the lowest ratio of median home value to household income (4 years), with a median home of $225,000.

Which Riverside suburb has the shortest commute?

Twentynine Palms, where the average commute is 15.9 minutes each way.

Back to the Riverside city profile, or see the best suburbs of other big cities.

Places are incorporated cities, towns and villages plus census-designated places with 10,000 or more residents, assigned to the metro area by county (OMB 2023 delineations). Distances are straight lines from the center of Riverside. The Census Bureau caps published medians at $250,000 for income and $2,000,000 for home values, shown with a plus sign.