Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Riverside earns a D, 208th among Missouri's 247 graded towns, mostly because of safety. Its police reported 16 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 97% of U.S. towns. What it does well: its public schools beat 81% of Missouri towns on state tests and graduation. Riverside’s property crime rate is 43 per 1,000 residents, above both Missouri’s towns (12.4) and U.S. towns (9.9). Only 1 of Missouri’s 419 towns score lower on history. The biggest park or preserve is E. H. Young Riverfront Park, at 42 acres.
Where Riverside beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Park Hill South High | 9–12 | 1,890 |
2,937 counted in 2010 and 4,013 in 2020; an estimated 4,581 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 14.2% since 2020, after 36.6% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Missouri), ordered by how far Riverside is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,315 in 1960, 4,013 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2003 and 6 maps from 1935 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Riverside. Close and well known come first.
Big draw12 mi Stadium & arenaArrowhead Stadium
8 mi Park & preserveSubTropolis
12 mi Stadium & arenaKauffman Stadium
5 mi Stadium & arenaCPKC Stadium
8 mi Theme parkWorlds of Fun
6 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile CenterArrowhead Stadium: Ichabod, CC BY-SA 3.0 · SubTropolis: ErgoSum88, Public domain · Kauffman Stadium: Mysteryman28, Public domain · CPKC Stadium: elisfkc2, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Worlds of Fun: Tkexb173 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · T-Mobile Center: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Riverside, 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 Riverside.
Riverside draws workers from Kansas City and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports property crime at about twice the Missouri rate.
The median property tax bill is $3,720, against $1,948 across Missouri, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Riverside home is worth about $470,000, up 3.7% in a year, 77% above the Missouri typical home. 42% of households own their home in Riverside.
| Riverside | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 42% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $959 a month | $972 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Park Hill school district. Its one school is below. The largest public high school is Park Hill South High, with 1,890 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park Hill South HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,890 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within MO on state tests and graduation
Property crime runs at 43 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Missouri rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 326 to 215 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Riverside’s violent crime rate is 3.5 per 1,000 residents. Riverside reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
7,310 jobs are based in Riverside, 3.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 5,486 in 2013 to 7,310.
Most working residents leave Riverside for work: only 6% work in town. 17% of Riverside residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Riverside has added 1,824 jobs, to 7,310 in 2023.
| Riverside | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 14% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.6% | 13% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Riverside has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 20° and about 11 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 6,467 U.S. towns with household incomes like Riverside’s, it is healthier than 68%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income. Within Missouri it is healthier than 55% of the 247 graded towns: much of Missouri scores lower on these measures.
Riverside beats the Missouri average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6.
| Riverside | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Riverside | MO |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.9% | 8.6% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.9% | 6.8% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.4% | 9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Only 42.4% of households own their home, against 68.1% across Missouri.
Adults 18 to 34 are 30% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 12% of residents (18% statewide). The median age in Riverside is 32 years. Riverside has grown 14% since 2020, to 4,581 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Riverside | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 32 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 12% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 22% | 29% |
41% women, 59% men
About 145 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.2 points). Across Missouri, 50.7% of residents are women. Among residents 45 to 54, 77% are men (MO 50%).
| Riverside | MO | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.8% | 11.9% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.9% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.6% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 19.4% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.8% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.2% | 11.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.4% | 13% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.3% | 10.6% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.4% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.5% | 8.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.3% | 30.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.6% | 20.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.2% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.1% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.2% | 12.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,600, single groups can be off by several points
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 68 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Riverside.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Riverside | Missouri towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1% | 2.1% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. E. H. Young Riverfront Park | 0.1 mi | 42 |
| 2. Renner Brenner Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
13 within 15 miles of the center of Riverside
About 7 of every 100 Riverside residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Missouri.
Where Riverside’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Platte County, Missouri, United States
Riverside is a city in Platte County, Missouri, United States, that is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The population was 4,013 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Riverside.
| Town | MO rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside | #208 | D | C | D− | A− | C |
| Northmoor | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kansas City | #200 | C− | C+ | D− | C+ | C+ |
| Parkville | #42 | A− | C− | — | A− | A− |
Parkville reports no FBI crime data of its own. Northmoor isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Riverside with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Riverside grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #208 of 247 in Missouri. It grades C for health, D− for safety and A− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 5.6 years of the area's median household income ($83,460 across the Kansas City, MO-KS metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
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