Riverside is a somewhat small village located in the state of Illinois. With a population of 8,940 people and two associated neighborhoods, Riverside is the 235th largest community in Illinois. Riverside has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic villages in the country. 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 93.63% 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 (21.94%), sales jobs (11.66%), and office and administrative support (9.64%). 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. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 18.26% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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". Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums. Because of many things, Riverside is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Riverside a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The village’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Riverside has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Riverside’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the country, making it one of the safest places to raise a family. In Riverside, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 33.08 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the village is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense 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. 63.74% 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 $64,469, which is wealthy relative to Illinois and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $257,876 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 32.00% of the village’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Riverside include Irish, Italian, German, Polish, and English. The most common language spoken in Riverside is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Slavic languages.
