Riverside County, California

33°44′N 115°59′W / 33.73°N 115.98°W / 33.73; -115.98

Riverside County
County
County of Riverside
Images, from top down, left to right: Riverside's Mission Inn Festival of Lights, North face of the San Jacinto Mountains in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival, Palm Springs aerial tramway, Joshua Tree National Park, Riverside National Cemetery Medal of Honor memorial
Flag Seal
Interactive map of Riverside County
Location in the state of California
Country	United States
State	California
Region	Inland Empire
Incorporated	May 9, 1893
Named for	The City of Riverside, and the city's location beside the Santa Ana River
County seat	Riverside
Largest city (population)	Riverside
Largest city (area)	Palm Springs
Government
• Type	Council–CEO
• Chair	Chuck Washington
• Vice Chair	V. Manuel Perez
• Board of Supervisors	Supervisors[1] Kevin Jeffries Karen Spiegel Chuck Washington V. Manuel Perez Yxstian Gutierrez
• Chief executive officer	Jeff Van Wagenen
Area
• Total	7,303 sq mi (18,910 km2)
• Land	7,206 sq mi (18,660 km2)
• Water	97 sq mi (250 km2)
Highest elevation [2]	10,834 ft (3,302 m)
Lowest elevation	−234 ft (−71 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	2,418,185
• Estimate  (2023)	2,492,442
• Density	330/sq mi (130/km2)
GDP [4]
• Total	$95.159 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (Pacific Daylight Time)
FIPS code	06-065
Congressional districts	25th, 35th, 39th, 40th, 41st, 48th
Website	rivco.org

Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185,^[3][5] making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the United States. The name was derived from the city of Riverside, which is the county seat.^[6]

Riverside County is included in the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as the Inland Empire. The county is also included in the Los Angeles–Long Beach Combined Statistical Area.

Roughly rectangular, Riverside County covers 7,208 square miles (18,670 km²) in Southern California, spanning from the greater Los Angeles area to the Arizona border. Geographically, the western region of the county is chaparral with a Mediterranean climate, while the central and eastern regions of the county are predominantly desert or mountainous. Most of Joshua Tree National Park is located in the county. The desert resort cities of Indio, Coachella, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs are located in the Coachella Valley region of central-eastern Riverside County.

Between 2007 and 2011, large numbers of Los Angeles-area workers moved to the county to take advantage of more affordable housing.^[7] Along with neighboring San Bernardino County, it was one of the fastest-growing regions in the state prior to the recent changes in the regional economy. In addition, smaller, but significant, numbers of people have been moving into southwest Riverside County from the San Diego metropolitan area.^[8][9]