Riverside Unified, CA - District Data

Original Research by School Decision on Riverside Unified

Riverside Unified is a mid-sized K-12 school district in Riverside County serving a substantial enrollment across an entire community. The district is geographically dispersed, with schools spanning several neighborhoods across Riverside, Colton, Jurupa Valley, Moreno Valley, and Perris, and includes early childhood through high school offerings alongside specialized programs such as continuation schools, an independent study option, virtual instruction, and a state preschool.

The student body is predominantly Latino, with meaningful representation of Asian, white, and Black students. Enrollment spans all grade levels, with roughly balanced numbers across elementary through high school, making this a district where capacity serves families with children at multiple life stages.

Math and English language arts results reflect an underperforming district. In math, proficiency is markedly low across all tested grades, ranging from the low to mid-thirties. English proficiency, while better than math, sits in the 40s to low 50s across tested grades, with middle school grades showing somewhat stronger results than elementary. Science proficiency is similarly low, in the low 30s at grades 5 and 8. These gaps are substantial and represent an area where students are not meeting state standards at a consistent rate. Against neighboring Riverside County districts, the district ranks in the top quartile for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades, suggesting that while results are objectively weak, the district performs at a higher level than many of its county peers.

Chronic absenteeism sits above the midpoint compared to county districts, a meaningful concern because attendance gaps often correlate with learning loss and graduation outcomes. State graduation rate data was not available in the records reviewed.

The housing market surrounding the district is mid-range for Southern California. Home values are moderate, and rent is steady, with modest year-over-year decline in purchase prices and slight increases in rental costs. This positions the district in a region where families face real but not extreme housing pressure compared to coastal California markets.

The district has adopted several recent shifts in instruction and policy. An ethnic studies graduation requirement, adopted locally before California mandated it statewide, remains in place after the board voted in late 2025 to retain it despite a proposal to eliminate it due to state funding gaps. Every high school student must now take an ethnic studies course to graduate. The district is also midway through a teacher coaching and instructional redesign initiative aimed at removing learning barriers and identifying struggling students faster. This effort has involved training roughly one-third of the teaching staff and showed early reported gains in English and math, though the federal funding that supports it is scheduled to end in 2028. Finally, a voter-approved bond measure has funded school facilities upgrades and new construction, though a state auditor report found the district delivered fewer projects than originally planned due to rising construction costs and shifted priorities, and flagged inconsistent reporting on how bond funds were allocated.

For families evaluating the district, the main consideration is academic performance. Test results are consistently and notably below state proficiency benchmarks across subjects and grades, and math is a particular area of weakness. The instructional redesign initiative and coaching effort offer a pathway toward improvement, but gains are still early and the intervention timeline is uncertain. The district's performance relative to neighboring counties suggests it faces challenges similar to or greater than other districts in the region. Attendance rates indicate a need to understand why some families and students are missing school regularly. At the same time, the district offers breadth of school types and programming, a deliberate and sustained commitment to ethnic studies, and an active investment in facilities. A parent or resident should visit individual school pages and speak directly with schools about how the coaching initiative and new instructional approach are showing up in classrooms, and should clarify the district's timeline and targets for raising proficiency before enrollment decisions are made.

See more original research from School Decision →

District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

38,855

Grades

KG–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 69%

Black 6%

White 16%

Asian 5%

Two+ 4%

Am. Indian / AK Native 0%

Hawaiian / Pac. Isl. 0%

By economic status

Percent proficient by grade, as reported

Economically disadvantaged

Not disadvantaged

ELA

Gr ALL

41%

—

Gr 3

35%

59%

Gr 4

34%

64%

Gr 5

39%

67%

Gr 6

42%

69%

Gr 7

43%

69%

Gr 8

40%

68%

Gr 11

52%

—

Math

Gr ALL

26%

—

Gr 3

36%

62%

Gr 4

29%

58%

Gr 5

26%

55%

Gr 6

26%

54%

Gr 7

26%

56%

Gr 8

23%

52%

Gr 11

19%

—

Science

Gr ALL

17%

—

Gr 5

24%

51%

Gr 8

23%

51%

Gr 11

22%

—

Gr 12

20%

—

Gr HS

23%

—

Gr UG_SEC

22%

—

Schools in this District

49 schools are officially reported under this district.

Raincross High (Continuation)

Amelia Earhart Middle

Tomas Rivera Elementary

Castle View Elementary

Abraham Lincoln Continuation

Longfellow Elementary

Madison Elementary

Magnolia Elementary

Monroe Elementary

Mountain View Elementary

Sunshine Special Education

University Heights Middle

Victoria Elementary

Washington Elementary

Woodcrest Elementary

Summit View Independent Study

Martin Luther King Jr. High

William Howard Taft Elementary

Opportunity Program

Benjamin Franklin Elementary

John F. Kennedy Elementary

Lake Mathews Elementary

Mark Twain Elementary

Patricia Beatty Elementary

Riverside Virtual

Frank Augustus Miller Middle

Riverside STEM Academy

Educational Options Center State Preschool

Academic Performance

Percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards, by grade.

Mathematics

6 grades reported

42%

Grade 3

36%

Grade 4

33%

Grade 5

32%

Grade 6

33%

Grade 7

31%

Grade 8

English Language Arts

6 grades reported

41%

Grade 3

42%

Grade 4

46%

Grade 5

48%

Grade 6

49%

Grade 7

47%

Grade 8

Science

2 grades reported

31%

Grade 5

30%

Grade 8

Social Studies

1 grade reported

58%

Grade 8

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$644,935

Year-over-year change-1.0%

Range across 11 ZIP codes$501K to $768K

vs. state typical0.83x

vs. national typical1.75x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (11 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
92504	Riverside	$604K	-1.2%	24.7%
92507	Riverside	$610K	-1.2%	19.7%
92503	Riverside	$639K	-1.6%	18.2%
92506	Riverside	$706K	+0.1%	18.2%
92508	Riverside	$768K	-0.6%	10.2%
92501	Riverside	$564K	-1.9%	6.3%
92509	Jurupa Valley	$638K	-0.7%	0.8%
92557	Moreno Valley	$569K	-1.5%	0.4%
92324	Colton	$501K	-0.8%	0.2%
92505	Riverside	$637K	-1.1%	0.2%
92570	Perris	$581K	+0.4%	0.1%

Rental Market

Typical monthly rent$2,461/mo

Year-over-year change+1.6%

Range across 10 ZIP codes$2,021 to $2,766/mo

Rent trend (12 months)

ZIP code rents (10 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Rent/mo	YoY	Weight
92504	Riverside	$2,398	+2.0%	24.7%
92507	Riverside	$2,306	+0.1%	19.7%
92503	Riverside	$2,376	+3.4%	18.2%
92506	Riverside	$2,720	+2.8%	18.2%
92508	Riverside	$2,766	-1.1%	10.2%
92501	Riverside	$2,188	+0.7%	6.3%
92509	Jurupa Valley	$2,508	+1.6%	0.8%
92557	Moreno Valley	$2,763	+2.7%	0.4%
92324	Colton	$2,021	+3.0%	0.2%
92505	Riverside	$2,327	+3.0%	0.2%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$3,254/mo

Home price / national median income7.7x

Annual rent / national median income35.3%

Est. mortgage exceeds rent by$794/mo

Comparison

State typical home value$776,233 (-1.1% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.