Where Is Riverside? See Its Location and Proximity to Other California Cities

There are 482 cities in California, which means it can be sort of hard to keep track of every single one of them. Many famous cities certainly stand out, such as Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, and San Jose. However, many other cities are only known by locals or by people who visit California often. After all, if you aren’t a resident of California, when was the last time you heard something about Crescent City or Fremont? Have you made Lake Isabella or Blythe your destination recently? With so many places in the world, we have to work to organize our knowledge of them. Riverside, California, is a city in southern California that is known best for its citrus production. Today, we’ll take a closer look at the city of Riverside while we answer one important question: “Where is Riverside?”

Where is Riverside on a Map?

We’ll start by pinpointing the exact location of Riverside, California using a helpful and interactive map. Maps like the one below help us in so many ways. We can see a location on a map and see the terrain it is surrounded by. We can observe neighboring cities or recreational areas. Overall, maps are a vital resource for humans. Let’s take a look!

As you can see, Riverside is fairly close to a lot of more famous cities in California. It is just south of San Bernardino and southeast of Los Angeles. Popular attractions nearby include the San Bernardino National Forest and, further east, Joshua Tree National Park, home of the Joshua Tree. Now that we can better see the location of the city, let’s explore its distance from other cities.

How Far is Riverside From Other California Cities?

We’ve decided to lay this section out in a helpful table. The table will list several other cities in California, where they are in proximity from Riverside, and how long of a trip it is to get to Riverside from them. Here’s a great example so you’ll know how to read the table correctly.

Let’s look at Temecula, California. Temecula rests southeast of Riverside, so that’s what we’ll list under the column labeled “Direction”. If the column says “Southeast”, that means that the city in question is southeast of Riverside. Then, we’ll look at the distance, which we still state in miles. It is 41 miles from Temecula to Riverside. Finally, a column with an estimated travel time will show you the amount of time it takes to get from one destination to the other. This column is subject to change. We have used the time estimates provided to us by Google Maps for the current time of day at which this article is being written. Traffic, road closures, and other potential changes in conditions can and do impact travel time.

As you can see, California is a vast state with a lot of stops. Let’s dig in to Riverside’s distance from some major outdoor attractions in the state.

Riverside and Outdoor Recreation

We’re going to start close to Riverside and then branch out with another helpful table that highlights some of the most popular outdoor attractions for visitors to California. In the city of Riverside and nearby to it, there are several wonderful attractions to see that you might not have heard of. These include Mount Rubidoux Park, the California Citrus State Historic Park, and the Hidden Valley Nature Center and Wildlife Area. Now, let’s look at some huge California attractions and how long it takes to get to them from Riverside.

How does this table help us? Well, say you’ve booked a stay in Riverside and you want to get out into the wilderness to hike. Looking at this table, you can see that maybe Death Valley isn’t going to be the best option for a day trip. However, you could quite easily go to Joshua Tree or the San Bernardino National Forest. A couple other locations in this table are accessible if you wake up early and get a move on. Understanding distance helps us put together a comprehensive travel plan – and helps us understand space much better!

Population of Riverside

As of the 2021 census by the United States Census Bureau, there were 317,261 people living in Riverside, California. Riverside is a pretty diverse city with a 48.3 percent white population, a 5.9 percent Black or African American population, and a 54.9 percent Hispanic or Latino population. There are also a few other minority groups who live in the city, including an 8.8 percent Asian population and a 10 percent population of people who self-describe as two or more races.

From 2017 to 2021, there were 10,394 veterans living in Riverside. In this same span of time, there were 88,340 households in the city with an average of 3.38 people per household. The average individual income in Riverside is 28,339 as of the 2020 census. The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates that a single adult in Riverside County, California needs to make 39,237 dollars before taxes to sustain a comfortable life. This calculator covers rent, food, medical costs, transportation, and other expenses to come up with its number. That means that the average individual in Riverside is making over 10,000 dollars less than they need to cover all of their expenses comfortably.

Industry in Riverside

Riverside, California is the county seat of Riverside County, California. The industry that we got information on covers the entire county and not just the city. Let’s look at the top four industries in Riverside County. The first-largest industry in Riverside County is retail, with 13.5 percent of the workforce employed in retail operations. Next is health and social services, then construction. Finally, manufacturing is a large part of the county’s industry. We also want to note that the Riverside County government is a massive employer in the county and offers of 27,000 positions.

We mentioned earlier that Riverside is best known for its citrus industry, so let’s take a closer look at what that means. Riverside began as an agricultural giant and celebrates a rich citrus history. The entire county benefited from the growth and sales of the naval orange – a variety of orange that is commonly distributed in the United States. Because of this history, Riverside still boasts two dozen nationally registered historic cites and more than 100 city landmarks to commemorate the zesty history of the city. However, this is not the primary industry of the area anymore. Industries such as educational services and food services certainly have agriculture beat in the area as it stands today.

However, the citrus industry runs deep, and the farming hasn’t totally left the area. Additionally, museums and historic sites need people to maintain them, and there are a number of employment opportunities revolving around celebrating the rich history of the orange in the area.

Summary

Riverside, California is a city in southern California that acts as the county seat of Riverside County California. It is close to large cities such as San Diego and Los Angeles, along with being a quick jaunt from some major attractions, such as Joshua Tree National Park and San Bernardino National Forest.