Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 12,192.
Riviera Beach's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades A−, ranked 89th of 259 in Maryland. The median household earns $113K and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 75% of the country. Riviera Beach’s typical rent is $1,972 a month, above both the Maryland town median ($1,809 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). The biggest park or preserve is Sunset Park, at 26 acres.
Where Riviera Beach beats most towns.
Where Riviera Beach’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Maryland), ordered by how far Riviera Beach is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,849 in 1950, 12,384 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1909 and 6 maps from 1894 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Riviera Beach. Close and well known come first.
Big draw33 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw33 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw35 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw35 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw33 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaM&T Bank StadiumWhite House: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Washington Monument: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · M&T Bank Stadium: United States Department of Defense Cherie Cullen, Public domain
Riviera Beach is unincorporated, so Anne Arundel 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 Mar 11, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Riviera Beach.
Riviera Beach sends most of its workers to Baltimore and beyond and owes part of its health edge to its incomes.
Since 1979, 27 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Riviera Beach. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 97% of U.S. communities.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
One of its 4 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Public schools: the Anne Arundel County Public Schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 520 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MD on state tests and graduation
Against the 6,776 U.S. towns with household incomes like Riviera Beach’s, it is healthier than 53%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
The share of adults in Riviera Beach who binge drink: 18%. The town beats the Maryland average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. Among adults in the town, 9.6% have diabetes and 21% get no exercise outside work.
| Riviera Beach | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.6% | 12% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 23% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | Riviera Beach | MD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.2% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.9% | 13.5% |
| More binge drinkers | 17.9% | 14.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Riviera Beach has 821 jobs for its 5,749 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 1,150 in 2013 to 821.
For Riviera Beach, the typical journey to work is 30 minutes. Most people who work leave Riviera Beach to do it: just 2% work in town. Employers in Riviera Beach shed 329 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 821. 8.4% of Riviera Beach workers do their job from home.
| Riviera Beach | Maryland towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 8.4% | 18% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.7% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 32 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $113,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Riviera Beach has 3 parks and preserves, 55 acres in all.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sunset Park | — | 26 |
| 2. Stoney Creek Park | — | 15 |
| 3. Rock Creek Park | — | 14 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes sold in Riviera Beach spent a median 7 days on the market. Just over four in five households live in a home they own locally. Bidding over the asking price: 53% of homes sold in the town.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
14 within 15 miles of the center of Riviera Beach
About 6 of every 100 Riviera Beach residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Maryland.
Census-designated place in Maryland, United States
Riviera Beach is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 12,677 at the 2010 U.S. census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Riviera Beach.
| Town | MD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riviera Beach | #89 | A− | C+ | — | B− | A− |
| Pasadena | #123 | B+ | C− | — | B− | A− |
Riviera Beach and Pasadena report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Riviera Beach with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Riviera Beach grades A− overall, better than 79% of U.S. towns and #89 of 259 in Maryland. It grades A− for health and B− for schools.
The typical home is worth about $350,000, 18% below the Maryland typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
