Riverside is a somewhat small village located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 8,845 people and two associated neighborhoods, Riverside is the 235th largest community in Illinois. Riverside has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic villages. Riverside home prices are not only among the most expensive in Illinois, but Riverside real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Riverside is a decidedly white-collar village, with fully 93.89% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Riverside is a village of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Riverside who work in management occupations (21.02%), office and administrative support (12.68%), and teaching (8.83%). Of important note, Riverside is also a village of artists. Riverside has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Riverside’s character. Also of interest is that Riverside has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Riverside telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 22.10% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. In addition, Riverside is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre. Because of many things, Riverside is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Riverside really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Riverside perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live. One downside of living in Riverside is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Riverside, the average commute to work is 32.64 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the village, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative. In addition, it is also a pedestrian-friendly village. Many of Riverside’s neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. Even though Riverside is a smaller village, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the train for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.If knowledge is power, Riverside is a pretty powerful place. 69.83% of the adults in Riverside have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Riverside in 2022 was $68,684, which is wealthy relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $274,736 for a family of four. Riverside is an extremely ethnically-diverse village. The people who call Riverside home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Riverside residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Riverside also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 29.38% of the village’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Riverside include Irish, German, Italian, Polish, and English. The most common language spoken in Riverside is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Slavic languages.
