Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetWA-RIVERSIDE-WA · Riverside, WA 452 pop · income 4th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Riverside
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Riverside on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Koyuk · lowest
34,250
Koyuk · lowest
34,250 median HH income
30.8% of the leader · rank #1
Blackshear · near
34,267
Blackshear · near
34,267 median HH income
30.8% of the leader · rank #2
Riverside · this city
34,271
Riverside · this city
34,271 median HH income
30.8% of the leader · rank #3
Haskell · near
34,276
Haskell · near
34,276 median HH income
30.8% of the leader · rank #4
Brookdale · near
34,279
Brookdale · near
34,279 median HH income
30.8% of the leader · rank #5
Newton · near
34,286
Newton · near
34,286 median HH income
30.8% of the leader · rank #6
Kapowsin · highest
111,295
Kapowsin · highest
111,295 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Riverside on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 452.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Riverside lands in the 4th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
4th
percentile, household income
43rd
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Riverside, WA
Riverside is a small town in Washington, home to 452 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $34,271 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 26.5%. Home values in Riverside run a median of $198,800, and the median resident age is 34.1 years. About 4.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 52.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 0 residential units authorized here in 2024 (No Permits).
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Washington at 107.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,472 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $188 across Washington, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.0 out of 100 (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Riverside's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Riverside, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Riverside growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +16 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What does the journey to work look like in Riverside?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 82.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Riverside?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Hatton (453 residents, $88,450 income); Cowiche (449 residents); Kapowsin (449 residents, $111,295 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Rough Rock, AZ (452 residents); Keene, CA (452 residents); Falls, CT (452 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
How far does income reach against housing in Riverside?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 26.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 26.5% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average
F
City profile score · Riverside, WA
5/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living F
107.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate F
26.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$34,271
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
4.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Riverside profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
Poverty rate: 4/100 (F) · 26.5%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $34,271
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 4.7%
How does Riverside compare to other US cities?
Riverside measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income4% higher than other cities
Home value43% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Riverside against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Washington only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Washington-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Riverside near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Riverside ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Riverside only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#561 of 565
1st percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#505 of 565
11th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#21 of 598
96th percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#580 of 599
3rd percentile in Washington
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Washington only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
4th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Riverside's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$198,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 57% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Riverside's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,913 of 15,516
More affordable than 10% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,349 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.8×, Riverside sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,913 of 15,516 and #10,349 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$34,271Riverside, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Riverside, WA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Riverside, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)4.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)26.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
452
Median Income
$34,271
Median Home Value
$198,800
Median Age
34.1
Poverty Rate
26.5%
Labor force participation
52.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
4.7%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Riverside's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
327 residents
2021
331 residents
2022
331 residents
2023
334 residents
2024
341 residents
2025
343 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.1%
Carpool
12.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.2%
Work from Home
4.0%
Other
0.6%
Based on 173 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Washington statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $188
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Washington at $188 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $55 ).
These are Washington statewide averages, not a meter reading for Riverside. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Washington's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Riverside is $1,472/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Washington statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.0 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Washington statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Riverside sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Riverside compares to similar-size Washington cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.