More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Riverside to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Riverside are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Riverside ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Riverside area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Riverside proper, although Villa Park certainly tries.
We examined the 54 biggest suburbs of Riverside to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in California lists, these places are a little too far downwind of Riverside in terms of quality of life.
$61,764 median income · $414,128 median home price
Located in
Riverside County, California
We’ll get the ball rolling with Banning, the absolute worst place to live around Riverside according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Banning beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 3rd worst in the Riverside area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks 2nd worst when it comes to home values.
But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Banning.
You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$80,647 median income · $482,811 median home price
Located in
Riverside County, California
Welcome to San Jacinto. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 25.0 miles to Riverside. Income levels here are the 10th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $80,647 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$88,911 median income · $543,988 median home price
Located in
Riverside County, California
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Riverside suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Perris on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.
In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Riverside suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$57,719 median income · $444,334 median home price
Located in
Riverside County, California
If you live in Hemet, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the lowest Riverside suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 3rd worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Riverside. Remember, we looked at 54 cities for this study.
Hemet is about 26.8 miles to downtown.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$71,208 median income · $493,150 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
Colton has the distinction of being a Riverside suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Colton has the 7th lowest home values in the metro Riverside area, where the median price is $493,150. The median income is $202,245.
Colton has an unemployment rate of 7.5% which ranks 7th worst.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$67,415 median income · $487,988 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino has 222,724 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)
Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 18.6%.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$77,120 median income · $545,940 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
Ah, Highland. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Riverside.
It’s the place with the 24th most out of work residents in the Riverside metro area (6.2%).
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$64,185 median income · $311,156 median home price
Lakeland is a city about 20.0 miles from Riverside, but Riverside probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Lakeland has the 4th most uninsured people, 4th worst incomes, and has the 49th highest unemployment rate (4.5%) in the entire Riverside metro area.
Homes only cost $311,156 for a reason. That’s cheap for Riverside standards.
$88,857 median income · $588,566 median home price
Located in
San Bernardino County, California
If you absolutely have to live near Riverside, then Rialto might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Riverside suburb.
About 7.7% of residents are out of work.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$103,506 median income · $655,219 median home price
Located in
Riverside County, California
Rounding out the ten worst Riverside suburbs to call home is Wildomar.
Located 23.5 miles outside the city, Wildomar is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 6th highest unemployment rate (7.7%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is California’s statewide median.
California statewide median: $99,122
California statewide median: $774,582
California statewide median: 6.6%
California statewide median: 12.0%
On the map
Where the worst Riverside suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Riverside for 2026
To figure out how bad a Riverside suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2020-2024, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Riverside.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 5,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 54 suburbs to evaluate around Riverside.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 54 in each category, where 1 was the worst.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near Riverside.” We’re looking at you, Banning.
We updated this article for 2026, which reflects our eleventh time ranking the worst suburbs around Riverside.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Worst Riverside Suburbs
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Worst Score | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Banning | 6.79 | 31,093 | $61,764 | $414,128 |
| 2 | San Jacinto | 7.86 | 55,180 | $80,647 | $482,811 |
| 3 | Perris | 8.71 | 80,511 | $88,911 | $543,988 |
| 4 | Hemet | 9.43 | 91,326 | $57,719 | $444,334 |
| 5 | Colton | 10.64 | 53,772 | $71,208 | $493,150 |
| 6 | San Bernardino | 11.71 | 222,724 | $67,415 | $487,988 |
| 7 | Highland | 13.43 | 56,675 | $77,120 | $545,940 |
| 8 | Lakeland | 14.57 | 119,961 | $64,185 | $311,156 |
| 9 | Rialto | 14.57 | 104,143 | $88,857 | $588,566 |
| 10 | Wildomar | 14.64 | 37,277 | $103,506 | $655,219 |
| 11 | Moreno Valley | 15.57 | 211,666 | $93,222 | $551,284 |
| 12 | Montclair | 15.57 | 37,810 | $77,659 | $660,566 |
| 13 | Jurupa Valley | 16.00 | 107,011 | $97,550 | $672,514 |
| 14 | Pomona | 16.21 | 147,943 | $79,479 | $690,986 |
| 15 | Ontario | 17.14 | 180,547 | $88,941 | $672,742 |
| 16 | Yucaipa | 18.86 | 54,421 | $90,794 | $570,222 |
| 17 | Lake Elsinore | 18.93 | 72,461 | $101,888 | $586,598 |
| 18 | Menifee | 20.00 | 110,305 | $93,454 | $584,525 |
| 19 | Fontana | 21.00 | 214,169 | $102,821 | $639,032 |
| 20 | Loma Linda | 21.00 | 25,122 | $82,353 | $640,816 |
| 21 | Anaheim | 23.14 | 344,521 | $95,227 | $950,504 |
| 22 | Chino | 23.57 | 92,652 | $104,682 | $761,426 |
| 23 | Grand Terrace | 23.57 | 13,078 | $83,628 | $587,468 |
| 24 | Laguna Woods | 24.14 | 17,289 | $59,269 | $471,410 |
| 25 | Beaumont | 24.29 | 56,266 | $107,118 | $537,095 |
| 26 | Redlands | 27.14 | 73,375 | $105,041 | $636,035 |
| 27 | Covina | 27.43 | 49,888 | $98,671 | $804,341 |
| 28 | Corona | 28.57 | 159,670 | $109,242 | $764,386 |
| 29 | Calimesa | 29.14 | 10,902 | $87,181 | $566,185 |
| 30 | Chino Hills | 30.57 | 77,927 | $126,334 | $996,262 |
| 31 | San Dimas | 31.64 | 33,789 | $105,321 | $927,055 |
| 32 | Upland | 32.29 | 79,257 | $105,830 | $825,789 |
| 33 | Norco | 32.79 | 25,054 | $127,566 | $918,950 |
| 34 | La Verne | 33.07 | 30,600 | $103,761 | $951,548 |
| 35 | Murrieta | 33.21 | 112,064 | $114,081 | $688,358 |
| 36 | Rancho Cucamonga | 33.43 | 175,411 | $111,895 | $792,765 |
| 37 | Tustin | 33.50 | 78,981 | $112,503 | $1,189,731 |
| 38 | Glendora | 34.07 | 50,926 | $113,569 | $893,350 |
| 39 | Orange | 35.79 | 138,266 | $117,113 | $1,143,788 |
| 40 | Diamond Bar | 36.14 | 53,355 | $108,281 | $1,028,880 |
| 41 | Placentia | 36.43 | 52,826 | $115,929 | $1,117,228 |
| 42 | Irvine | 38.21 | 311,690 | $136,719 | $1,557,982 |
| 43 | Canyon Lake | 38.93 | 11,119 | $126,926 | $704,581 |
| 44 | Walnut | 39.14 | 27,611 | $129,449 | $1,197,951 |
| 45 | Claremont | 40.29 | 36,595 | $125,647 | $1,039,337 |
| 46 | Brea | 41.36 | 47,469 | $131,129 | $1,140,406 |
| 47 | Laguna Hills | 41.57 | 30,740 | $128,851 | $1,243,180 |
| 48 | Lake Forest | 42.07 | 86,281 | $135,175 | $1,208,686 |
| 49 | Rancho Santa Margarita | 43.07 | 46,990 | $152,560 | $1,029,346 |
| 50 | Eastvale | 43.50 | 70,633 | $160,069 | $949,255 |
| 51 | El Cerrito | 43.86 | 25,994 | $127,876 | $1,142,479 |
| 52 | Yorba Linda | 46.43 | 67,170 | $157,582 | $1,419,513 |
| 53 | Mission Viejo | 46.50 | 92,151 | $136,123 | $1,229,743 |
| 54 | Villa Park | 46.71 | 5,748 | $202,245 | $2,343,977 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 54 suburbs within 30 miles of Riverside.
Summary
Summary: The areas around Riverside where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2026
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Riverside with Banning casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Riverside are Banning, San Jacinto, Perris, Hemet, Colton, San Bernardino, Highland, Lakeland, Rialto, and Wildomar.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Riverside aren’t all bad. Villa Park takes the cake as the best place to live around Riverside. Not sold on California? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Suburbs Of Riverside FAQs
What is the worst suburb of Riverside?
Banning ranks as the worst suburb around Riverside for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. San Jacinto and Perris are next on the list.
What are the worst suburbs of Riverside?
The worst-ranked suburbs around Riverside are Banning, San Jacinto, Perris, Hemet, Colton, San Bernardino, Highland, Lakeland, Rialto, and Wildomar. We scored all 54 places within 30 miles.
Why does Banning rank as the worst suburb?
Banning posts the roughest combined numbers of the 54 suburbs we scored: a median household income of $61,764, a median home value of $414,128, and a poverty rate of 18.8%.
What is the best-ranked suburb near Riverside?
Villa Park lands at the opposite end of this ranking, making it the best-ranked suburb near Riverside by these measures. Our separate best suburbs of Riverside list covers that side properly.
How do you rank the worst suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on unemployment, income, density, home values, dropouts, poverty, and insurance coverage, using Census American Community Survey data. Real numbers, light heart — every one of these towns has people making it work.
