Best PlacesRiverside, Spokane, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Riverside, Spokane, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Riverside, Spokane ranks 5,193rd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Riverside, Spokane
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Riverside, Spokane's strengths and weaknesses
Where Riverside, Spokane ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Short commute18.7 minutes each way, better than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Riverside, Spokane ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Household income$23,894 median, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Riverside, Spokane
A household needs to earn about $101,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Riverside, Spokane home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $23,894, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Riverside, Spokane's effective rate of 0.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Riverside, Spokane
Riverside, Spokane runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Riverside, Spokane.
Who works in Riverside, Spokane, and how
Work in Riverside, Spokane centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 39%
Life in Riverside, Spokane
Riverside, Spokane has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 89% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Riverside, Spokane and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Riverside, Spokane, month by month
Riverside, Spokane sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 91° | 74° | 56° |
| October | 63° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Riverside, Spokane
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 228 miles away.
Riverside, Spokane measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Riverside, Spokane against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Riverside, Spokane
Is Riverside, Spokane a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Riverside, Spokane ranks 5,193rd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on low disaster risk, transit, and biking, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Riverside, Spokane expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $388,215. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $23,894 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Riverside, Spokane safe?
Riverside, Spokane is safer than 2% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,865 per resident a year.
Compare Riverside, Spokane with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Riverside, Spokane. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Riverside, Spokane represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Riverside, Spokane detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Riverside, Spokane: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Riverside, Spokane: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Riverside, Spokane: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Riverside, Spokane: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Riverside, Spokane detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.