Riverside County, California

33°44′N 115°59′W﻿ / ﻿33.73°N 115.98°W﻿ / 33.73; -115.98
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the United States. The name was derived from the city of Riverside, which is the county seat.
Riverside County is included in the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the Inland Empire. The county is also included in the Los Angeles–Long Beach Combined Statistical Area.
Roughly rectangular, Riverside County covers 7,208 square miles (18,670 km) in Southern California, spanning from the greater Los Angeles area to the Arizona border. Geographically, the western region of the county is chaparral with a Mediterranean climate, while the central and eastern regions of the county are predominantly desert or mountainous. Most of Joshua Tree National Park is located in the county. The desert resort cities of Indio, Coachella, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs are located in the Coachella Valley region of central-eastern Riverside County.
Between 2007 and 2011, large numbers of Los Angeles-area workers moved to the county to take advantage of more affordable housing. Along with neighboring San Bernardino County, it was one of the fastest-growing regions in the state prior to the recent changes in the regional economy. In addition, smaller, but significant, numbers of people have been moving into southwest Riverside County from the San Diego metropolitan area.
Riverside County is bordered on the north by San Bernardino County; on the east by La Paz County, Arizona; on the southeast by Imperial County; on the southwest by San Diego County; and on the west by Orange County.
When Riverside County was formed in 1893, it was named for the city of Riverside, the county seat. That city, founded in 1870, was so named because of its location near the Santa Ana River.
The Indigenous peoples of the valleys, mountains and deserts of what is now Riverside County are the Serrano, the Payómkawichum, the Mohave, the Cupeno, the Chemehuevi, the Cahuilla, and the Tongva. The Aguanga and Temecula Basins, Elsinore Trough and eastern Santa Ana Mountains are the traditional homelands of the Payómkawichum. The inland valleys in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains and the desert of the Salton Sink are the traditional homelands of the Cahuilla.
The first European settlement in the county was a Mission San Luis Rey de Francia estancia or farm at the Luiseño village of Temescal. In 1819, the Mission granted Leandro Serrano permission to occupy the land for the purpose of grazing and farming, and Serrano established Rancho Temescal. Serrano was mayordomo of San Antonio de Pala Asistencia for the Mission of San Luis Rey.
With the signing of the Treaty of Cordoba in 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain, but the San Gabriel Mission near what is now Los Angeles, California, continued to expand, and established Rancho San Gorgonio in 1824. The ranch was to be one of the Mission's principal rancherias, and the most distant, and it occupied most of today's San Gorgonio Pass area.
Following the Mexican secularization act of 1833 by the First Mexican Republic, a series of rancho land grants were made throughout the state. In the Riverside County this included; Rancho Jurupa in 1838, El Rincon in 1839, Rancho San Jacinto Viejo in 1842, Rancho San Jacinto y San Gorgonio in 1843, Ranchos La Laguna, Pauba, Temecula in 1844, Ranchos Little Temecula, Potreros de San Juan Capistrano in 1845, Ranchos San Jacinto Sobrante, La Sierra (Sepulveda), La Sierra (Yorba), Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Nuevo y Potrero in 1846.
New Mexican colonists founded the town of La Placita on the east side of the Santa Ana River at the northern extremity of what is now the city of Riverside in 1843.
When the initial 27 California counties were established in 1850, the area today known as Riverside County was divided between Los Angeles County and San Diego County. In 1853, the eastern part of Los Angeles County was used to create San Bernardino County. Between 1891 and 1893, several proposals and legislative attempts were put forth to form new counties in Southern California. These proposals included one for a Pomona County and one for a San Jacinto County. None of the proposals were adopted until a measure to create Riverside County was signed by Governor Henry H. Markham on March 11, 1893.
The new county was created from parts of San Bernardino County and San Diego County. On May 2, 1893, seventy percent of voters approved the formation of Riverside County. Voters chose the city of Riverside as the county seat, also by a large margin. Riverside County was officially formed on May 9, 1893, when the Board of Commissioners filed the final canvass of the votes.
Riverside county was a major focal point of the Civil Rights Movements in the US, especially the African-American sections of Riverside and heavily Mexican-American communities of the Coachella Valley visited by Cesar Chavez of the farm labor union struggle.
Riverside county has also been a focus of modern Native American Gaming enterprises. In the early 1980s, the county government attempted to shut down small bingo halls operated by the Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians and the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. The tribes joined forces and fought the county all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in the tribes' favor on February 25, 1987. In turn, Congress enacted the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988 to establish a legal framework for the relationship between Indian gaming and state governments. Naturally, both tribes now operate large casinos in the county: the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa and the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino adjacent to Spotlight 29 Casino.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 7,303 square miles (18,910 km), of which 7,206 square miles (18,660 km) is land and 97 square miles (250 km) (1.3%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county in California by area. At roughly 180 miles (290 km) wide in the east–west dimension, the area of the county is massive. Riverside County, California is roughly the size of the State of New Jersey in total area. County government documents frequently cite the Colorado River town of Blythe as being a "three-hour drive" from the county seat, Riverside. Some view the areas west of San Gorgonio Pass as the Inland Empire portion of the county and the eastern part as either the Mojave Desert or Colorado Desert portion. There are probably at least three geomorphic provinces: the Inland Empire western portion, the Santa Rosa Mountains communities such as Reinhardt Canyon, and the desert region. Other possible subdivisions include tribal lands, the Colorado River communities, and the Salton Sea.
There is a diversity of flora and fauna within Riverside County. Vegetative plant associations feature many desert flora, but there are also forested areas within the county. The California endemic Blue oak, Quercus douglasii is at the southernmost part of its range in Riverside County.
There are 19 official wilderness areas in Riverside County that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Some are integral parts of the above protected areas, most (11 of the 19) are managed solely by the Bureau of Land Management, and some share management between the BLM and the relevant other agencies. Some extend into neighboring counties:
The 2010 United States census reported that Riverside County had a population of 2,189,641. The racial makeup of Riverside County was 1,335,147 (61.0%) White (40.7% Non-Hispanic White), 140,543 (6.4%) African American, 23,710 (1.1%) Native American, 130,468 (6.0%) Asian (2.3% Filipino, 0.8% Chinese, 0.7% Vietnamese, 0.6% Korean, 0.5% Indian, 0.2% Japanese, 0.1% Cambodian, 0.1% Laotian, 0.1% Pakistani), 6,874 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 448,235 (20.5%) from other races, and 104,664 (4.8%) from two or more races. There were 995,257 residents of Hispanic or Latino ancestry, of any race (45.5%); 39.5% of Riverside County was of Mexican origin, 0.8% Salvadoran, 0.7% Honduran, 0.6% Puerto Rican, 0.3% Cuban, and 0.2% Nicaraguan descent.
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,545,387 people, 506,218 households, and 372,576 families residing in the county. The population density was 214 inhabitants per square mile (83/km). There were 584,674 housing units at an average density of 81 per square mile (31/km). The racial makeup of the county was 65.6% White, 6.2% Black or African American, 1.2% Native American, 3.7% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 18.7% from other races, and 4.4% from two or more races. 36.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 9.2% were of German, 6.9% English, 6.1% Irish and 5.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 67.2% spoke English and 27.7% Spanish as their first language.
In 2006 the county had a population of 2,026,803, up 31.2% since 2000. In 2005 45.8% of the population was non-Hispanic whites. The percentages of African Americans, Asians and Native Americans remained relatively similar to their 2000 figures. The percentage of Pacific Islanders had majorly risen to 0.4. Hispanics now constituted 41% of the population.
There were 506,218 households, out of which 38.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.0 and the average family size was 3.5.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,887, and the median income for a family was $48,409. Males had a median income of $38,639 versus $28,032 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,689. About 10.7% of families and 14.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.
Riverside County is organized as a General Law County under the provision of the California Government Code. The county has five supervisorial districts, and one supervisor is elected from each district every four years.
In 1999, the County Board of Supervisors approved a multimillion-dollar planning effort to create the Riverside County Integrated Plan (RCIP) which was to encompass a completely new General Plan, regional transportation plan (CETAP) and Habitat Conservation Plan. The resultant General Plan adopted in 2003 was considered groundbreaking for its multidisciplinary approach to land use and conservation planning.
The Riverside Superior Court is the state trial court for Riverside County with 14 courthouses: Riverside Historic Courthouse, Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside Family Law Court, Riverside Juvenile Court, Southwest Justice Center – Murrieta, Moreno Valley Court, Banning Court, Hemet Court, Corona Court, Temecula Court, Larson Justice Center – Indio, Indio Juvenile Court, Palm Springs Court and Blythe Court.
The main courthouse is the Riverside Historic Courthouse. This landmark, erected in 1903, was modeled after the Grand and Petit Palais in Paris, France. The courthouse, designed by Los Angeles architects Burnham and Bliesner, has a classical design – including a great hall that connects all the departments (courtrooms). In 1994, the courthouse was closed for seismic retrofits due to the 1992 Landers and 1994 Northridge earthquakes. The courthouse was reopened and rededicated in September 1998.
Riverside County hands down 1 in 6 death sentences in the US, in spite of it having less than 1% of the population.
The Riverside County Sheriff provides court protection, jail administration, and coroner services for all of Riverside County. It provides patrol, detective, and other police services for the unincorporated areas of the county plus by contract to the cities and towns of Coachella, Eastvale, Indian Wells, Jurupa Valley, La Quinta, Lake Elsinore, Moreno Valley, Norco, Palm Desert, Perris, Rancho Mirage, San Jacinto, Temecula and Wildomar. The Morongo Indian Reservation also contracts with the Sheriff's Office to provide police services to the reservation.
Municipal departments within the county are Banning, Beaumont, Blythe, Calimesa, Cathedral City, Corona, Desert Hot Springs, Hemet, Indio, Menifee, Murrieta, Palm Springs, Riverside, Riverside Community College and University California Riverside
Riverside County Probation Department https://rivcoprobation.org/
Prior to 2008, Riverside County was historically a Republican stronghold in presidential and congressional elections. Between its creation in 1893 and 2004, it voted for the Democratic presidential nominee only three times: Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 (by a margin of 337 votes, or 0.99%), Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 (by a margin of 19,363 votes, or 13.65%), and Bill Clinton in 1992 (by a margin of 6,784 votes, or 1.58%). In 1932, it was one of only two counties in the entire West Coast to vote for Republican president Herbert Hoover over Roosevelt during the latter's landslide victory. In 2024, it was one of ten counties that flipped for Donald Trump after voting for Biden in 2020, and was one of six counties that voted for the Republican presidential candidate for the first time in 20 years since George W. Bush in 2004. At the state level, Riverside remains one of the most conservative counties in Southern California and is frequently the only county not to vote for Democrats, having not voted for a Democrat for governor since 1998 (and only voted three times for Democrats in over 100 years).
At the local level, Democrats are strongest in Riverside County in large cities such as Riverside, Perris, and Moreno Valley, performing especially well in majority Black and Hispanic areas, although those have been shifting heavily to the right. Democrats are also strongest in progressive-leaning White areas and college campuses such as Downtown Riverside, the area surrounding UC Riverside, the LGBT enclave of Palm Springs and most of the Hispanic-majority Coachella Valley.
Republicans perform especially well in the wealthy San Diegan exurbs in the Temecula Valley as well as more middle-class white cities such as Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, and Menifee. Republicans are also usually more successful in the rural areas of the county as well as wealthy retirement enclaves such as Canyon Lake and Bermuda Dunes. Republicans have been consistently gaining in almost all areas of the county, however, and in 2024 put up massive gains in both affluent suburbs and blue-collar majority Hispanic areas, even flipping the city of Jurupa Valley, the most Hispanic city in Riverside County.
In the United States House of Representatives, Riverside County is split between 6 congressional districts:
In the California State Senate, the county is split between four legislative districts:
In the California State Assembly, the county is split between six legislative districts:
Riverside County voted 64.8% in favor of Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages. Only the city of Palm Springs voted against the measure.
The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.
K-12 unified:
Secondary:
Elementary:
Amtrak trains stop in Riverside and Palm Springs, and Amtrak California provides bus connections to the San Joaquins in Riverside–Downtown, Beaumont, Palm Springs, Thousand Palms, Indio, Moreno Valley, Perris, Sun City, and Hemet.
Metrolink trains serve nine stations in Riverside County: Riverside–Downtown, Riverside–La Sierra, Corona–North Main, Corona–West, Jurupa Valley/Pedley, Riverside–Hunter Park/UCR, Moreno Valley/March Field, Perris–Downtown, and Perris–South. These trains provide service to Orange, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties seven days a week, with a primarily commuter-oriented schedule.
Riverside County has 12 federally recognized Indian reservations, which ties it with Sandoval County, New Mexico, for second most of any county in the United States. (Sandoval County, however, has two additional joint-use areas, shared between reservations. San Diego County, California has the most, with 18 reservations.)
The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Riverside County.
† county seat