Sophia's Dairy · Photo: E.H. Pickering, HABS photographer · Public domainFewer people are out of work in Riverside (2.0%) than in 85% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are higher than in 81% of U.S. towns. Riverside grades A for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 26.3 in Baltimore.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Riverside: the gist
Fewer jobs are based in Riverside than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Riverside fell from 6,249 in 2013 to 3,957 in 2023, −37%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Riverside’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Riverside is Baltimore, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (395) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The four measures behind Riverside’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Riverside is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #64 of 261 in Maryland. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Riverside’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Riverside could be anywhere from A− to A+.
What Riverside’s employers do
3,957 jobs are based in Riverside.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Riverside, 2013 → 2023: 6,249 → 3,957. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Riverside’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Riverside
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The daily flow of workers through Riverside
On a workday 3,064 residents head out to work, 172 work right here, and 3,785 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,300 people are in Riverside on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
12% of working residents work in Baltimore
Where Riverside clocks in
12% of workers
6% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Time on the road from Riverside: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Riverside workers work from home, vs 19% across Maryland. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,610 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Maryland: 80% drive alone, 5% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
In Riverside, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Riverside is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #141 of 261 in Maryland. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.0% across Maryland.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,064 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 77% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.2% of Riverside households have no vehicle (Maryland 8.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Riverside’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Riverside is 345th of 3,283 U.S. towns of 4,600 to 8,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Fulton MD | 5,677 | $222K | 0.7% | 1.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Riva MD | 4,976 | $176K | 1.1% | 1.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Hampton MD | 5,372 | $171K | 3.8% | 0.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 343 | Ranchettes WY | 5,949 | $121K | 2.9% | 0.5% | 2% | A |
| 344 | Lafayette Township IN | 8,526 | $118K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 6% | A |
| 345 | Riverside MD | 6,585 | $106K | 5.7% | 2.0% | 5% | A |
| 346 | Litchfield Park AZ | 6,727 | $126K | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| 347 | Jackson Township PA | 6,585 | $120K | 4.8% | 2.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,283 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Riverside, the top three, the last and three more from Maryland.
Riverside and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Riverside’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Riverside: questions
What is the median household income in Riverside?
$105,785 (±$10,741) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $103,678 across Maryland and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Riverside?
5.7%, against 9.4% across Maryland and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Riverside?
31 minutes each way on average, against 31 across Maryland and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Riverside work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baltimore (12%, 23 mi), Bel Air (6%, 7 mi), Aberdeen (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Riverside walkable?
Riverside is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Riverside without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Riverside, from the people who make the trip.
More of Riverside
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.