Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 25,081, settled in 1923.
The typical home is worth about $913K, 10.2 years of the Riverside metro’s $90K median household income. Overall it grades C, 374th of 841 graded towns in California. The median household earns $128K and it has 73 miles of trail. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 93% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Norco’s density of trails is 5.2 miles per square mile, above both California’s towns (1.0) and U.S. towns (0.4). Norco is home to Norco College.
Where Norco beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
4.3% of the town is conserved land, across 18 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Norco is from typical.
Its grades run from A for jobs and income (better than 86% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 4%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,584 in 1950, 26,316 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1938 and 5 maps from 1942 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Norco. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi Theme parkDisneyland17.3M visitors a year
Big draw26 mi Theme parkKnott's Berry Farm4.5M visitors a year
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaAngel Stadium of Anaheim
Big draw23 mi Theme parkDisney California Adventure10.1M visitors a year
Big draw33 mi MuseumOldest McDonald's restaurant
20 mi Stadium & arenaHonda CenterDisneyland: HarshLight from San Jose, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Knott's Berry Farm: Phydend at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Angel Stadium of Anaheim: Staff Sgt. Chad McMeen, Public domain · Disney California Adventure: CrispyCream27, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Oldest McDonald's restaurant: Northwalker, CC0 · Honda Center: Arnold C (Buchanan-Hermit), Attribution
Who provides power, water and the rest in Norco, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Norco.
Norco has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and owes part of its health edge to its incomes, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of California.
River Trails Park, at 103 acres with 2.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Walkers can cover 73 miles of trail in 18 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Norco: 18, covering 234 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. River Trails Park | 2.5 mi | 103 |
| 2. Neil Snipes Park | 1 mi | 13 |
| 3. Ingalls Park | 0.3 mi | 47 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Corona-Norco Unified school district runs its public schools. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 4 public schools serve Norco, with 1,904 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norco IntermediateLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 726 | – |
| Norco HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,032 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
56% of Norco’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 39%. Since 1980, Norco has seen 15 flood insurance claims paid out. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2023.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reported crimes fell from 716 to 521 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
For Norco, the property crime rate is 19.9 per 1,000 residents. The town’s violent offense rate is 0.6 per 1,000 residents, where California’s towns sit at 2.9 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Within California, it does better than 53% of towns.
| Norco | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 19.9 per 1,000 residents | 13.3 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The Riverside Fire Stn 3 weather station, 10 miles away, records that about 110 days a year reach 90°, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. January nights average 43°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 92°.
The typical July afternoon high in Norco is 92°F. Snowfall is close to zero.
| Norco | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 43°F | 40°F | 22°F |
| July high | 92°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 10.2 years of the Riverside metro’s $90K median household income, the typical home (about $913K) costs more against local pay than in 78% of California towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Home values rose 28% in five years, to about $913K, against 13% across California.
Home values are up 4% over the year to September 2026. In Norco, 81% of households are owner-occupiers. The rent at the middle of the market for Norco comes to $1,925 a month.
| Norco | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 81% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,925 a month | $1,895 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The average commute for its 11,483 working residents takes 36.5 minutes, against 28.7 across California. Jobs based here grew from 10,237 in 2013 to 14,068.
Half the trips to work are shorter than 19 miles. Employers in Norco added 3,831 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 14,068. Only 8% of working residents stay in Norco for work; the rest commute out. Also worth knowing: the town’s mean commuting time is 37 minutes.
| Norco | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 37 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $128,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.6% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 4,796 U.S. towns with household incomes like Norco’s, it is less healthy than 90%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Among adults in Norco, 38% sleep under 7 hours. For adults here, the share who had a checkup this year is 71%.
| Norco | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 72% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 29% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 35% | 36% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 9% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Norco | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with obesity | 36.6% | 27.8% |
| More adults with arthritis | 24.3% | 20.8% |
| More smokers | 12.6% | 10.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
13 within 15 miles of the center of Norco
About 7 of every 100 Norco residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
5 notable people were born in Norco.
City in California, United States
Norco is a city in the Inland Empire region of northwestern Riverside County, California, United States. Located roughly 40 miles (64 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean, Norco is known as "Horsetown, USA" and prides itself on being a "horse community". The area is dotted with corrals, farms, hitching posts, ranches, riding trails, and tack-and-feed supply stores; there are also city ordinances in-place requiring new construction to have a "traditional, rustic ... Western flavor". As of the 2020 census, the city population was 26,316, down from 27,063 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Norco.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norco | #374 | C | D− | C | B+ | B− |
| Corona | #381 | C | D− | C | B+ | B |
| Eastvale | #183 | B− | D− | B− | B+ | A |
| Riverside | #568 | D | D | D | B | C+ |
| Jurupa Valley | #653 | D | D | C | C+ | C |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Norco grades C overall, better than 31% of U.S. towns and #374 of 841 in California. It grades B− for health, C for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within California, it does better than 53% of towns.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
5 notable people were born here, including Toby Gerhart and Kyle Wachholtz.
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