Sell Your Commercial Property In Inland Empire, CA

Who rents in the Inland Empire

The Inland Empire is not a single city, so this profile uses the Census Bureau's Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area, which covers all of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The 2020–2024 American Community Survey counts 4,675,704 residents in 1,450,250 occupied homes. Of those, 495,428 are rented, a 34.2% share, and median household income is $89,662.

That regional figure hides a large spread between the older core cities and the newer suburbs. ACS 2020–2024 data for the four cities named on our Inland Empire page shows San Bernardino at 50.0% renters, Riverside at 43.2%, Ontario at 42.0% and Fontana at 33.2%. San Bernardino also has the lowest median household income of the four, $67,415, while Fontana's is $102,821. For an apartment owner, the core cities are where renter demand is deepest.

Logistics is the job base that sets the region apart. A September 2025 UC Riverside summary of research by its Inland Empire Labor and Community Center found that almost one in 15 of the 1.7 million people employed in Riverside and San Bernardino counties works in a warehouse. The same research put average pay for non-supervisory warehouse workers at $44,776, about 75% of the regional average. That is a large workforce whose wages fit renting far better than buying.

Rents and affordability

Median gross rent across the metro was $1,846 over 2020–2024. Among the four cities, Ontario was highest at $2,030, followed by Riverside at $1,914 and Fontana at $1,839, with San Bernardino lowest at $1,508. For comparison, the City of Los Angeles median was $1,933 in the same ACS release, so several Inland Empire cities are not far below it on this measure.

Affordability is tight despite the lower rents. Across the metro, 55.8% of renter households pay 30% or more of income on rent and 28.6% pay at least half. In San Bernardino the 30%-plus share reaches 60.1%, and in Ontario it is 60.0%. In those cities, renewal increases are more likely to strain tenants.

HUD's FY2026 fair market rents for the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area, which set the baseline for voucher payment standards, are $1,692 for a studio, $1,777 for a one-bedroom, $2,201 for a two-bedroom, $2,912 for a three-bedroom and $3,514 for a four-bedroom, per HUD. The two-bedroom figure is $400 below the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale two-bedroom FMR of $2,601, one measure of the cost gap with the coast.

All figures are ACS 2020–2024 five-year estimates from tables B25064, B25003, B25024 and B25035.

The apartment stock

Apartments are a smaller part of the housing mix here than on the coast. Of the metro's 1,613,300 housing units, 201,900, or 12.5%, are in buildings of five or more units, per ACS table B25024. The rest is mostly single-family homes. Within the 5+ segment, 56,516 units sit in 5–9 unit buildings, 40,862 in 10–19 unit buildings, 29,505 in 20–49 unit buildings and 75,017 in buildings of 50 or more.

The two counties hold similar amounts of apartment housing but in different shapes, according to county-level ACS figures. Riverside County has 102,031 units in 5+ unit buildings, 11.7% of its stock, with more of them in small 5–9 unit properties (31,883). San Bernardino County has 99,869, or 13.4%, and 45,390 of those are in large 50+ unit complexes. So the two counties offer quite different mixes of small and large properties for a buyer to choose from.

Age varies by county. Riverside County's median home was built in 1990 and only 30.3% of its units predate 1980, while San Bernardino County's median is 1983 with 43.0% built before 1980. The core cities are older: San Bernardino's median year built is 1973, with 60.2% of units built before 1980, and Riverside's is 1976. Ontario stands out for recent growth, with 14.3% of its housing built in 2010 or later, the highest share of the four cities. The newest construction leans the same way: 4.5% of Ontario's units and 3.9% of Fontana's were built in 2020 or later, against 0.5% in San Bernardino. In buildings of that age, buyers focus on deferred maintenance and system replacements.

Property taxes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties

California taxes apartments the same way as other real property. The Board of Equalization describes a base rate of 1% of assessed value plus voter-approved bond levies, with assessed value allowed to rise no more than 2% a year until a change in ownership or new construction. A sale resets the base to market value, and the BOE's Assessors' Handbook 401 treats acquiring more than 50% of an entity that owns property as a change in ownership too. In both counties, the elected county assessor values property as of the January 1 lien date, and owners can appeal through the county's assessment appeals board.

The practical effect for a long-held building is a tax bill well below what a buyer will pay. Where market value has risen since purchase, a buyer's projected taxes can be a large step up, and that is built into the offer. State law allows counties to charge a documentary transfer tax of $0.55 per $500 of value at sale, and cities may impose up to half that rate on top.

Rent rules and local compliance

The state Tenant Protection Act caps annual increases on most apartments at 5% plus regional CPI, or 10%, whichever is lower, and requires just cause to end a tenancy after 12 months. It runs until January 1, 2030. Units with a certificate of occupancy issued within the last 15 years are exempt, which matters in a region with as much recent construction as Ontario and Fontana. The Costa-Hawkins Act separately bars local rent control on units with a certificate of occupancy issued after February 1, 1995.

Local inspection rules can add cost. San Bernardino's Crime-Free Rental Housing Program, Chapter 15.27 of the municipal code, makes participation mandatory and subjects all multi-family rental property in the city to an annual inspection. Owners pay an annual fee set by City Council resolution, and the city mails notice at least three weeks before each inspection. A buyer of a San Bernardino building will ask for the inspection history and any open items.

Statewide tenant rules round out the picture. Under Civil Code 1950.5, most deposits are capped at one month's rent since July 1, 2024, must be returned with an itemized statement within 21 days, and now require move-in and move-out photos. For nonpayment, CCP 1161 requires a three-day notice that excludes weekends and judicial holidays.

What this means if you own a building here

Inland Empire apartment values rest on a renter base tied to logistics and on rents that sit below coastal levels. That base is broad, but rent burdens above 55% limit how fast in-place rents can rise. Buyers will underwrite your trailing net operating income, a reassessed tax bill, and the cost of bringing a 1970s or 1980s building up to current standards. Clean rent rolls, documented AB 1482 increase history and, in San Bernardino, a current crime-free inspection record all help.

Use our apartment building value calculator to frame a range before you talk to buyers. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings in Riverside, San Bernardino, Ontario, Fontana and the surrounding Inland Empire, listed or off-market, and our seller page walks through how we evaluate a property.