Sell Your Commercial Property In Riverside, CA

Who rents in Riverside

Riverside is the seat of Riverside County and one of the Inland Empire's core apartment markets. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020–2024 counts 319,069 residents and 95,176 occupied homes, and 41,132 of those homes, or 43.2%, are rented. That is far above the 30.9% renter share for Riverside County as a whole, where newer suburbs are mostly owner-occupied. Median household income in the city is $91,045, a little below the county's $93,074. Dividing population by occupied homes gives about 3.4 residents per home, so many renter households are families or shared student households rather than single tenants.

Three institutions named on our Riverside page explain much of the demand. UC Riverside reports more than 26,000 students and about 1,100 faculty on a campus of nearly 1,200 acres. A student body of that size, against a city of about 319,000, puts steady pressure on rentals in Canyon Crest and the neighborhoods around campus, where our page notes that management quality can make a large difference to occupancy.

The second is county government. The Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, lists four of its 13 facilities in the city, including the Hall of Justice, the Historic Courthouse and the Family Law Courthouse on Main Street in Downtown Riverside.

The third is healthcare. Riverside Community Hospital, serving the region since 1901, reports 542 licensed beds, more than 2,500 employees and more than 700 physicians, and runs a Level I trauma center. Kaiser Permanente's Riverside Medical Center adds another major hospital employer. Shift-based clinical staff are a reliable source of demand for apartments within a short drive of both campuses.

Rents and affordability

Median gross rent in Riverside was $1,914 a month over 2020–2024, slightly above the county median of $1,901. HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents for the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area 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.

Those benchmarks bracket the city median. The one-bedroom FMR is $137 below Riverside's $1,914 median gross rent and the two-bedroom FMR is $287 above it, so in-place rents in a typical older building sit near voucher levels. Riverside is also not much cheaper than the coast on this measure: the Los Angeles County median gross rent in the same ACS release is $1,954, only $40 higher. For an owner, that narrow gap is worth noting: by this measure, a Riverside apartment is not a deep discount to a coastal one, even though building ages and incomes differ.

Rent burdens are high. In Riverside, 56.0% of renter households pay 30% or more of income on rent and 28.1% pay half or more, nearly identical to the county's 56.2% and 28.2% (ACS table B25070). Student households, many with little reported income, likely add to the city's figure, but the countywide numbers show that the pressure is broad. For owners, that limits how hard renewals can be pushed even where the state cap would allow more.

The apartment stock

Riverside has about twice the county's share of apartment housing. Of 99,910 housing units, 23,173, or 23.2%, are in buildings of five or more units, against 11.7% countywide (ACS table B25024). The 5+ stock is spread fairly evenly by building size: 5,120 units in 5–9 unit buildings, 5,550 in 10–19 unit buildings, 5,413 in 20–49 unit buildings and 7,090 in buildings of 50 or more. Duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes are relatively rare, at 5,427 units or 5.4% of the total, and another 2,701 units are mobile homes.

The city is also much older than the county around it. Riverside's median year built is 1976, compared with 1990 for Riverside County, and 56.5% of the city's units were built before 1980, against 30.3% countywide (ACS table B25034). The 1970s and 1980s together produced 33,193 units, about a third of today's stock, the era that produced much of the garden-style apartment stock buyers see in neighborhoods such as Arlington and La Sierra. Older buildings remain too: 26.7% of the city's units predate 1960, and many of those sit in and around Downtown Riverside.

For buyers, a 1970s or 1980s complex brings predictable capital items: roofs, plumbing, HVAC replacements and parking surfaces. Pricing will reflect how much of that work has been done.

New supply

New construction has been limited inside the city. Units built from 2010 to 2019 total 5,745, and only 596, about 0.6% of the stock, date from 2020 or later. Most of the region's new housing has gone elsewhere in Riverside County: 11.4% of the county's units were built in 2010 or later, against 6.3% in the city, and the county's median home is 14 years newer. For owners of established Riverside buildings, that means little direct competition from new apartments nearby, though student-oriented projects near UC Riverside can affect lease-up around campus.

Property taxes in Riverside County

The Riverside County Assessor values apartment buildings under Proposition 13. As the Board of Equalization explains, the base rate is 1% of assessed value plus voter-approved bond levies, and assessed value can rise no more than 2% a year until a change in ownership or new construction. Values are set as of the January 1 lien date, and a sale generates a supplemental bill for the rest of the fiscal year.

The reset at sale is the key issue for long-time owners. The BOE's Assessors' Handbook 401 treats a transfer of more than 50% of an owning entity as a change in ownership, just like a deed transfer. A buyer will build the purchase-price tax bill into the offer, so the older your base-year value, the larger the gap. The county may also charge a documentary transfer tax of $0.55 per $500 of value.

Rent rules and tenant law

Riverside has not adopted local rent control, so most apartments fall under the state Tenant Protection Act: annual increases are capped at 5% plus regional CPI, or 10%, whichever is lower, and just cause is required after 12 months of occupancy. The cap expires January 1, 2030. Units with a certificate of occupancy issued in the last 15 years are exempt, which covers most of the 6.3% of the city's housing built since 2010.

The Attorney General notes that increases of 10% or less require 30 days' notice and larger increases 90 days. Under Civil Code 1950.5, most deposits are capped at one month's rent and must be returned with an itemized statement within 21 days, and CCP 1161 sets a three-day nonpayment notice that excludes weekends and judicial holidays. Student leases follow the same rules, so the move-out photo and deposit requirements apply at every academic-year turnover.

What this means if you own a building here

Riverside combines anchor institutions that do not move, a renter share well above the county's and an older stock with little new competition. Those conditions support occupancy. The limits are tenant affordability, the state increase cap and the capital needs of 1970s and 1980s buildings. Our Inland Empire market profile covers the broader two-county region.

A buyer will underwrite trailing net operating income, a reassessed tax bill and a capital plan; our apartment building value calculator can help you frame a range first. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings across Riverside, from Downtown and Canyon Crest to Arlington and La Sierra. Our seller page explains how we review a property.