Best Places to Live in Riverside County, CA

[Evan Bedard]

Born and raised here in beautiful southern California (mostly Riverside County), I felt I would post what i believe are the best places to live in the county. As some of you are not aware, Riverside county is one of the nation's most populated counties and is one of the largest metropolitan areas in SoCal. The county stretches from Orange County, down to San Diego County, and all the way to the Colorado river marking the Arizona state border.

Along with its neighboring county (San Bernardino) the two have formed the "Inland Empire." Riverside County is one of the fastest growing regions in the state as Californians search for a lower cost of living and affordable housing compared to surrounding counties.

Here are a few statistics of Riverside County as of 2011:

Population: 2,171,384 residents as of 2011, with a resident growth of about 40% since 2000.

Median home price: $242,000

Total cost of living compared to US average: About 15% higher than the national average

Unemployment rate: 14% as of 2011, almost five percent higher than the national average of 9.1%

Here are the cities I believe are the best to reside in Riverside County:

Temecula:

Temecula has got to be the number one place to reside in Riverside County. This is a beautiful city where residents will experience a joyful ocean breeze each evening while watching the sun set over the hills. Not to mention they have some of the nicest and well-built public and non-public schools in the county. I lived in Temecula for almost two years and there is not one thing I can say bad about the place. The people are extremely friendly, the scenery is out of this world with wineries lining the neighborhood streets, and the crime rate.... Well there is none...

Median household income each year $81,245
Job increase from 2000-2010 74.44%
Average property price $255,000
Personal crime reports (per 1,000) 1
Property crime reports (per 1,000) 20
High temp in July ° F 97.8°
Low temp in Jan ° F 36.1°

http://www.cityoftemecula.org/

Norco:

Norco gets it's name from being the Northern part of Corona, CA. I stayed in Corona for eight years during my childhood and was only maybe ten minutes away from Norco (aka Horse Town). Norco is more of a country-type city as you will see many people riding horses on what typically would be a cement sidewalk.. But nope not in Norco, the sidewalks are mainly dirt and/or wood chips and are fenced off so the locals can ride their horses into town. However, Norco does have beautiful suburbs as well that contains big beautiful homes that are not so country-like.

Median household income each year $85,515
Job increase from 2000-2010 31.51%
Average property price $326,726
Personal crime reports (per 1,000) 2
Property crime reports (per 1,000) 25
High temp in July ° F 92.0°
Low temp in Jan ° F 41.5°

http://www.norco.ca.us/

Corona:

Corona is my home town and is a gorgeous place to live in Riverside County. Unlike many other cities in Riverside with unmowed lawns and dirt everywhere, Corona is full of beautiful green hills and well-maintained properties (for the most part). But like all other cities Corona does have some areas which may seem a little ghetto to some people. However, the schools are great and the job commute is perfect being located by two major freeways (the 91 and 15) which lead to surrounding counties such as San Bernardino, Orange County and San Diego.

Median household income each year $80,851
Job increase from 2000-2010 22.32%
Average property price $280,000
Personal crime reports (per 1,000) 1
Property crime reports (per 1,000) 25
High temp in July ° F 92.0°
Low temp in Jan ° F 41.5°

http://www.discovercorona.com/

Murrieta:

Murrieta is another beautiful city here that perfectly describes Southern California. It is located just between Temecula and Lake Elsinore and is only about thirty minutes from Corona. This was a very rural part of southern Cali as it officially become a city July 1, 1991. But since then the city has flourished, and by 2005, there were 85,000 registered residents in the city, compared to only 24,000 in 1991. The jobs in the area have expanded more than 92% from 2000-2010.

Median family income(per year) $84,789
Job growth %(2000-2009)* 92.08%
Median home price $225,000
Personal crime incidents (per 1,000) 1
Property crime incidents (per 1,000) 15
High temp in July F 98.4
Low temp in Jan F 39.7

http://www.murrieta.org/

[troubleinriverside]

another notable but little known fact is that in 1895 Riverside was the wealthiest city per capita in the united states due to the citrus industry


Riverside, California | City of Arts & Innovation |