Riverside County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the United States. The county is named for the city of Riverside, which is its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. Riverside County is included in the Riverside– San Bernardino–

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

. The county is also included in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

Combined Statistical Area. Roughly rectangular, Riverside County covers in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, spanning from the greater Los Angeles area to the

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

border. Geographically, the western region of the county is

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

with a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, while the central and eastern regions of the county are predominantly

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

or mountainous. Most of

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located in southeastern California, straddling north-central Riverside County, California, Riverside County and part of southern San Bernardino County, ...

is located in the county. The desert resort cities of Indio,

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta,

Rancho Mirage Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothills ...

Cathedral City City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the the Crown, monarch of the United Kingdom to specific centres of population, which might or might not meet the generally accepted definition of city, cities. , there are List of cities in the Un ...

and Desert Hot Springs are located in the

Coachella Valley The Coachella Valley ( ) is an arid rift valley in the Colorado Desert of Southern California in Riverside County. The valley has been referred to as Greater Palm Springs and occasionally the Palm Springs Area due to the historic promine ...

region of central-eastern Riverside County. Between 2007 and 2011, large numbers of

-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.

Location

Riverside County is bordered on the north by

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

; on the east by La Paz County,

; on the southeast by Imperial County; on the southwest by

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

; and on the west by Orange County.

Etymology

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 Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino and Riversid ...

History

Indigenous

The

Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

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 Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

. The Aguanga and Temecula Basins, Elsinore Trough and eastern

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riversid ...

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.

Spanish era

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.

Mexican era

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 Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 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 The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a elevation Gap (landform), gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Faul ...

area. Following the Mexican secularization act of 1833 by the

First Mexican Republic The First Mexican Republic, known also as the First Federal Republic (), existed from 1824 to 1835. It was a Federal republic, federated republic, established by the 1824 Constitution of Mexico, Constitution of 1824, the first constitution of ...

, 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

at the northern extremity of what is now the city of Riverside in 1843.

American era

When the initial 27 California counties were established in 1850, the area today known as Riverside County was divided between

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

and

. In 1853, the eastern part of Los Angeles County was used to create

. 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.Fitch, pages v–viii.

County formation

The new county was created from parts of

and

. 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.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county in California by area. At roughly 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 The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

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 The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

or Colorado Desert portion. There are probably at least three geomorphic provinces: the

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 The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly salinity, saline endorheic lake in Riverside County, California, Riverside and Imperial County, California, Imperial counties in Southern California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the S ...

Flora and fauna

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.

National protected areas

Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest in Southern California that encompasses 460,000 acres/ of inland Montane ecosystems, montane regions. It is approximately 60 miles from the Pacific Ocean, withi ...

(part) * Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge * Dos Palmas Preserve *

(part) * San Bernardino National Forest (part) * Sand to Snow National Monument (part) *

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is a U.S. National Monument, national monument in Southern California. It includes portions of the Santa Rosa Mountains (California), Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains, San Jacinto mo ...

There are 19 official

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...

s in Riverside County that are part of the

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federal government of the United States, federally managed Wilderness, wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally ...

. Some are integral parts of the above protected areas, most (11 of the 19) are managed solely by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

, and some share management between the BLM and the relevant other agencies. Some extend into neighboring counties: * Agua Tibia Wilderness (part) * Beauty Mountain Wilderness * Big Maria Mountains Wilderness * Cahuilla Mountain Wilderness * Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness * Joshua Tree Wilderness (part) * Little Chuckwalla Mountains Wilderness (part) * Mecca Hills Wilderness * Orocopia Mountains Wilderness * Palen/McCoy Wilderness * Palo Verde Mountains Wilderness (part) * Pinto Mountains Wilderness * Rice Valley Wilderness * Riverside Mountains Wilderness * San Gorgonio Wilderness (part) * San Jacinto Wilderness * San Mateo Canyon Wilderness (part) * Santa Rosa Wilderness * South Fork San Jacinto Wilderness

State parks

California Citrus State Historic Park California Citrus State Historic Park is an open-air museum in the city of Riverside, California, United States. As part of the state park system of California, it interprets the historic cultural landscape of the citrus production, citrus indu ...

* Lake Perris State Recreation Area * Mount San Jacinto State Park

County parks and trails

* Hurkey Creek Park * Idyllwild Park * Indio Hills Palms * Jensen Alvarado Ranch * Lake Cahuilla Recreation Area *

Lake Skinner Skinner Reservoir, also known as Lake Skinner, is a reservoir in western Riverside County, California, located at the foot of Bachelor Mountain in the Auld Valley, approximately northeast of Temecula. It was created in 1973 by the construction ...

Recreation Area * McCall Memorial Equestrian Park * Santa Rosa Plateau

Demographics

2020 census

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010

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 White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

(40.7% Non-Hispanic White), 140,543 (6.4%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 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 Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 448,235 (20.5%) from other races, and 104,664 (4.8%) from two or more races. There were 995,257 residents of

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

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.

2000

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,545,387 people, 506,218 households, and 372,576 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 584,674 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 65.6%

, 6.2%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 1.2% Native American, 3.7% Asian, 0.3%

, 18.7% from other races, and 4.4% from two or more races. 36.2% of the population were

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 Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $18,689. About 10.7% of families and 14.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Government and law enforcement

Government

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.

Courts

The Riverside Superior Court is the state

trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

for Riverside County with 14

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

s: 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 The (; ) is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Built for the Exposition Universelle (1900), 1900 Exposition Universelle ("universal exhibition"), it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (''Musée des beaux-arts ...

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The courthouse, designed by Los Angeles architects Burnham and Bliesner, has a classical design – including a great hall that connects all the departments (

courtroom A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...

s). In 1994, the courthouse was closed for seismic retrofits due to the 1992 Landers and

1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake affected Greater Los Angeles, California, on January 17, 1994, at 04:30:55 PST. The epicenter of the moment 6.7 () blind thrust earthquake was beneath the San Fernando Valley. Lasting approximately 8 seconds ...

s. 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.

Law enforcement

Sheriff

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 Police

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/

Politics

Voter registration

Overview

Prior to 2008, Riverside County was a Republican stronghold in presidential and congressional elections. Between its creation in 1893 and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, it voted for the Democratic presidential nominee only three times:

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

(by a margin of 337 votes, or 0.99%),

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

(by a margin of 19,363 votes, or 13.65%), and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

(by a margin of 6,784 votes, or 1.58%). In

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, it was one of only two counties in the entire West Coast to vote for Republican president

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

over Roosevelt during the latter's landslide victory. In 2024, it was one of ten counties that flipped for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

after voting for Biden in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and was one of six that voted for the Republican presidential candidate for the first time in 20 years since

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. At the state level, Riverside remains one of the most conservative counties in Southern California and is frequently the only county in the region to not vote for Democratic candidates, having not voted for a Democrat for governor since 1998 (and having only voted three times for Democrats in the past century). 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

. Republicans perform especially well in the wealthy San Diegan exurbs in the

Temecula Valley The Temecula Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle de Temecula'') is a graben rift valley in western Riverside County, California. The Temecula Valley is one of the graben valleys making up the Elsinore Trough, created by the Elsinore Fau ...

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 The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Riverside County is split between 6 congressional districts: * * * * * and * . In the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

, the county is split between four legislative districts: * , * , * , and * . In the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

, the county is split between six legislative districts: * , * , * , * , * , and * . 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.

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

Education

Universities and colleges

* Azusa Pacific University – Murrieta
Brandman University
, part of the Chapman University System – Moreno Valley, Palm Desert, Riverside and Temecula * California Baptist University – Riverside * California Southern Law School – Riverside * California State University, San Bernardino, Palm Desert Campus – Palm Desert * California State University, San Marcos, Temecula Satellite Campus – Temecula * College of the Desert – Palm Desert and Indio * La Sierra University – Riverside * Mayfield College – Cathedral City * Mt. San Jacinto College – Banning, Menifee, San Jacinto, Temecula * Olivet University – Anza * Palo Verde College – Blythe * Riverside Community College District ** Riverside City College ** Moreno Valley College ** Norco College * Santa Barbara Business College – Palm Desert *

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

– Palm Desert and Riverside *

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the Ac ...

– Murrieta and Palm Desert

K-12 schools

; Public school districts K-12 unified: * Alvord Unified School District * Banning Unified School District * Beaumont Unified School District * Coachella Valley Unified School District * Colton Joint Unified School District * Corona-Norco Unified School District * Desert Center Unified School District * Desert Sands Unified School District * Hemet Unified School District * Jurupa Unified School District * Lake Elsinore Unified School District * Moreno Valley Unified School District *

Murrieta Valley Unified School District The Murrieta Valley Unified School District is the public school system in the city of Murrieta, California. It is the third largest public school district in Riverside County. High schools *Murrieta Mesa High School *Murrieta Valley High Scho ...

* Palm Springs Unified School District * Palo Verde Unified School District * Riverside Unified School District * San Jacinto Unified School District * Temecula Valley Unified School District * Val Verde Unified School District * Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District Secondary: * Perris Union High School District Elementary: * Menifee Union School District * Nuview Union Elementary School District * Perris Elementary School District * Romoland Elementary School District ; State-operated schools * California School for the Deaf, Riverside ;

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs that directs and manages education functions. Formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs ...

-operated schools: * Sherman Indian High School

Transportation

Major highways

Public transportation

* Riverside Transit Agency serves the western third of Riverside County, as far east as Banning. * SunLine Transit Agency serves Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley area. * RidePV (formerly Palo Verde Valley Transit Agency) provides service in Blythe, near the

border. * Pass Transit serves the San Gorgonio Pass communities. * Corona Cruiser serves the city of Corona. * Riverside County is also served by

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

buses.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

trains stop in and , and Amtrak California provides bus connections to the '' San Joaquins'' in , Beaumont, Palm Springs, Thousand Palms, Indio, Moreno Valley, Perris, Sun City, and Hemet. Metrolink trains serve nine stations in Riverside County: , , , , , , , , and . These trains provide service to Orange, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties seven days a week, with a primarily commuter-oriented schedule.

Airports

Military air bases

March Air Reserve Base March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB), is located in Riverside County, California, between the cities of Riverside, California, Riverside, Moreno Valley, California, Moreno Valley, and Perri ...

(former March Air Force Base)

Commercial airports

* Palm Springs International Airport

General aviation airports

* Banning Municipal Airport * Bermuda Dunes Airport * Blythe Airport * Corona Municipal Airport * Flabob Airport, Riverside * French Valley Airport (Temecula Valley) * Hemet-Ryan Airport (San Jacinto Valley) * Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport, Thermal (Coachella Valley) * Perris Valley Airport * Riverside Municipal Airport

Military installations

* Active ** Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range **

** Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach Detachment Norco ***

Naval Surface Warfare Center The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) is part of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) operated by the United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United Sta ...

, Corona Division * Historical ** Desert Training Center *** Blythe Army Airfield *** Desert Center Army Airfield *** Palm Springs Army Airfield *** Rice Army Airfield *** Shaver's Summit Army Airfield *** Thermal Army Airfield (Also named Naval Air Facility Thermal (historical)) ** Hemet Army Airfield

Points of interest

* Castle Park (amusement park) * The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture *

Empire Polo Club The Empire Polo Club is a 1,000-acre event venue in Indio, California, located in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California, Riverside County, approximately 22 miles southeast of Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs. It was founded i ...

, location of the

and

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

music festivals *

Gold Base Gold Base (also variously known as Gold, Golden Era Productions, Int Base or Int) is the ''de facto'' international headquarters of the Church of Scientology, located north of San Jacinto, California, United States, about from Los Angeles. The h ...

, international headquarters of the Church of Scientology and Golden Era Productions * Indian Wells Tennis Garden *

* Living Desert Zoo and Gardens *

March Field Air Museum The March Field Air Museum is an aviation museum near Moreno Valley, California, Moreno Valley and Riverside, California, located at March Air Reserve Base. History The museum was founded in 1979 as March Air Force Base Museum. One of the first e ...

* Mission Inn Hotel & Spa * Orange Empire Railway Museum * Orocopia Mountains Wilderness * Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and Mount San Jacinto State Park * Palm Springs Desert Museum * Ramona Bowl, Home of '' The Ramona Pageant'' * Riverside Art Museum * Riverside County fair grounds, location of the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival * Riverside National Cemetery, including the Medal of Honor Memorial * Salton Sea State Recreation Area * Santa Rosa Plateau * Sunnylands Center & Gardens * Temecula Valley AVA Wine Region * Western Science Center

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

* Aguanga * Alberhill * Alessandro * Anza * Arnold Heights * Bermuda Dunes * Bonnie Bell * Box Springs * Cabazon * Cahuilla * Cahuilla Hills * Cherry Valley * Chiriaco Summit * Coronita * Desert Beach * Desert Center * Desert Edge * Desert Palms * East Hemet * Edgemont * El Cariso * El Cerrito * El Sobrante * Fern Valley * French Valley *

Garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

* Gilman Hot Springs * Good Hope * Green Acres * Highgrove * Home Gardens *

Homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

* Idyllwild * Indio Hills * La Cresta * Lake Mathews * Lake Riverside * Lake Tamarisk * Lakeland Village * Lakeview *

March ARB March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB), is located in Riverside County, California, between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Comm ...

* Mead Valley * Meadowbrook *

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

* Mesa Verde * Mountain Center * North Palm Springs * North Shore * Nuevo *

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentPine Cove * Pinyon Pines * Radec * Rancho Capistrano * Ripley * Romoland * Sage * Sky Valley * Snow Creek * Temescal Valley * Thermal * Thomas Mountain * Thousand Palms * Valle Vista * Vista Santa Rosa * Warm Springs *

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

* Woodcrest

Former census designated places

* Crestmore Heights, annexed to Jurupa Valley

Ghost towns

* Dos Palmas * Eagle Mountain * Fertilla *

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

* La Placita * Leon * Midland * Pinacate * Saahatpa * Temescal *

Terra Cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

* Willow Springs Station

Indian reservations

Riverside County has 12 federally recognized

Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

s, 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 San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

has the most, with 18 reservations.) * Agua Caliente Indian Reservation * Augustine Indian Reservation * Cabazon Indian Reservation * Cahuilla Indian Reservation * Colorado River Indian Reservation (partly in La Paz County, Arizona and

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...

) * Morongo Indian Reservation * Pechanga Indian Reservation * Ramona Village * Santa Rosa Indian Reservation * Soboba Band of Mission Indians * Torres-Martinez Indian Reservation (partly in

Imperial County, California Imperial County is a county located on the southeast border of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 179,702, ranking as the least populous county in Southern California. The county seat and largest city is ...

) * Twenty-Nine Palms Indian Reservation (partly in San Bernardino County, California)

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Riverside County. † ''county seat''

Climate

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Fitch, Robert J. (1993). ''Profile of a Century: Riverside County, California, 1893–1993''. Riverside County Historical Commission Press. pp. 300. * Gunther, Jane Davies. ''Riverside County, California, Place Names; Their Origins and Their Stories'', Riverside, CA, 1984. * * ** (a reprint of the first three chapters of ''Along the Old Roads''.)

External links

* {{Authority control California counties Inland Empire Greater Los Angeles Counties in Southern California 1893 establishments in California Populated places established in 1893 Majority-minority counties in California