Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,555, founded in 1886.
Winchester grades D overall, ranked 682nd of 841 in California. One bright spot: it has 11 miles of trail. Winchester’s average trip to work is 46 minutes, above both the California town median (28 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Only 96 of California’s 1,064 towns score lower on hazard risk. The typical home is worth about $652K, 7.3 years of the Riverside metro’s $90K median household income.
Where Winchester beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
2,534 counted in 2010 and 3,068 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Winchester is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,689 in 1990, 3,068 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 3 maps from 1942 on.
Winchester is unincorporated, so Riverside County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Winchester.
Winchester has a longer frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to Temecula and beyond.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 98% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Hemet Unified school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winchester ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 692 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
The trail density in Winchester is 1.4 miles per square mile.
| Winchester | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.4 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Winchester-Domenigoni Park | — | 17 |
| 2. Pleasant Valley Park | — | 6 |
| 3. The Woods Community Park | 0.1 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Winchester has 228 jobs for its 1,197 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 45.7 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
0.6% of working residents work locally in Winchester. Jobs based in Winchester grew to 228 in 2023, 50 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Temecula (10%), San Diego (9%) and Murrieta (7%).
| Winchester | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.6% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $79,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The San Jacinto weather station, 8 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 315 days, longer than in 96% of U.S. towns. The San Jacinto weather station, 8 miles away, records that about 120 days a year reach 90°, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Winchester has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Winchester’s July high is 96°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Winchester beats the California average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 71% of Winchester adults had a checkup this year.
| Winchester | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 72% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 29% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 22% | 19% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 9% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Winchester | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with obesity | 37.4% | 27.8% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.7% | 10.6% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 17.7% | 14.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Winchester home is worth about $652,000, about the same as a year ago, 14% below the California typical home.
| Winchester | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,658 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 64% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Winchester. Close and well known come first.
Big draw40 mi National ParkJoshua Tree National Park2.9M visitors a year
30 mi MountainSan Gorgonio Mountain
24 mi MountainSan Jacinto Peak
10 mi MuseumOrange Empire Railway Museum
37 mi Stadium & arenaToyota Arena
37 mi LakeBig Bear LakeJoshua Tree National Park: Sergiy Galyonkin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · San Gorgonio Mountain: Doc Searls, CC BY-SA 2.0 · San Jacinto Peak: Wattewyl, CC BY 3.0 · Orange Empire Railway Museum: The original uploader was Pretzelpaws at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Toyota Arena: jondoeforty1, CC BY 2.0 · Big Bear Lake: H.G. Judd, CC BY-SA 3.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Winchester
About 7 of every 100 Winchester residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
Where Winchester’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in California, United States
Winchester is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Inland Empire region of Riverside County, California, USA. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a total population of 3,068, up from 2,534 at the 2010 census. Winchester was founded in 1886 in Pleasant Valley in what was then San Diego County. The town was named after the widow of Horace Winchester, Mrs. Amy Winchester. Largely rural for most of its history, and home to agricultural businesses including the Winchester Cheese Company, Winchester experienced rapid growth during the housing construction boom in the early-to-mid 2000s. However, construction and growth slowed when the housing bubble burst in 2007, resulting in a housing market c…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Winchester.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winchester | #682 | D | D | — | C+ | C+ |
| Green Acres | #705 | D− | C | — | C+ | C− |
| Hemet | #777 | D− | C− | C− | C+ | D |
Winchester and Green Acres report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Winchester with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Winchester grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #682 of 841 in California. It grades C+ for health and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
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.
