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Riverside County, CA — Convenience stores Saturation

How many convenience stores exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 96 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Convenience stores · Corner stores · Small-format food & fuel marts. Counted together because official statistics use one 445120 code.

Measured density: Range spans bands — 0.45× the U.S. rate (between 0.45× and 0.81× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 72 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 46 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Range spans the U.S. rate   Riverside County convenience stores — 45–81% of the U.S. rate

117 convenience stores are counted in Riverside County — 0.4 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 45% of the U.S. rate of 0.9.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 31% between 2015 and 2023 (45 → 59). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 92274 (Thermal), 92860 (Norco), 92240 (Desert Hot Springs) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 92507 (Riverside), 92882 (Corona), 92591 (Temecula).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 150 establishments, including locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA — so it can run slightly above the sum of the ZIP rows on this page. It is annual, so it lags more than QCEW.

Measured density: Riverside County sits at 45% of the U.S. rate for convenience stores. 46 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 45% and 81% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 92274 and 92860; the lowest measured density is in 92507 and 92882.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing convenience stores and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Convenience stores
117–261
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (72 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
0.4
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
0.9
per 10,000 present
County index
0.45×
vs. U.S.
Latest year (CBP)
150
2023 — $24M annual payroll
Residents
2,482,806
70 ZIPs with data
Workers
674,999
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
2,529,933
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+4.3%
+105,270 people
Net migration 2024
+18,546
international +11,037, domestic +7,509
Jobs located here
799,021
LODES 2022, +7.1% since 2019

Riverside County had an estimated 2,529,933 residents on July 1, 2024 — 4.3% more than in 2020 (+105,270). In the latest year it gained 26,384 people: births minus deaths +7,801, international migration +11,037, domestic migration +7,509. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

799,021 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+7.1% since 2019), and 1,035,761 employed residents lived there (+7.6% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
92549 Idyllwild
+59.6%
92582 San Jacinto
+35.6%
92585 Menifee
+34.8%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
92260 Palm Desert
−11.9%
92225 Blythe
−9.5%
92503 Riverside
−7.5%

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses

Not shown. Census publishes convenience stores only combined with vending machine operators, so a convenience-only nonemployer count is not published.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (NAICS 2022). We do not approximate this figure.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more convenience stores in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 31% since 2015

Number of convenience stores in Riverside County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

45
2015
54
2018
64
2020
61
2021
52
2022
59
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
92274 Thermal
231%
92860 Norco
178%
92240 Desert Hot Springs
152%
92501 Riverside
146%
92260 Palm Desert
135%
92503 Riverside
122%
92262 Palm Springs
118%
92553 Moreno Valley
107%
92544 Hemet
102%
92234 Cathedral City
97%
92236 Coachella
94%
92211 Palm Desert
93%
92583 San Jacinto
92%
92201 Indio
91%
92595 Wildomar
87%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
92507 Riverside
53%
92882 Corona
58%
92591 Temecula
64%
92570 Perris
71%
92505 Riverside
72%
92509 Jurupa Valley
74%
92880 Corona
79%
92530 Lake Elsinore
82%
92879 Corona
85%
92595 Wildomar
87%
92201 Indio
91%
92583 San Jacinto
92%
92211 Palm Desert
93%
92236 Coachella
94%
92234 Cathedral City
97%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few convenience stores may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersConvenience storesIndex
92230Cabazon Employment hub 1,8874,721 0–2 —
92518March Air Reserve Base Employment hub 1,2607,735 0–2 —
92590Temecula Employment hub 5,08922,770 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = convenience stores per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersConvenience stores Per 10kIndexStatus
92274Thermal 18,1671,627 4 2.1 231% High density
92860Norco 25,10911,256 5 1.6 178% High density
92240Desert Hot Springs 41,6153,179 6 1.4 152% High density
92501Riverside 22,93414,016 4 1.3 146% Above average
92260Palm Desert 30,52320,177 5 1.2 135% Above average
92503Riverside 88,39520,783 11 1.1 122% Above average
92262Palm Springs 26,88720,468 4 1.1 118% Above average
92553Moreno Valley 74,64015,017 8 1.0 107% Above average
92544Hemet 51,7513,384 5 0.9 102% Above average
92234Cathedral City 52,2678,685 5 0.9 97% Below average
92236Coachella 43,6425,781 4 0.9 94% Below average
92211Palm Desert 28,09214,395 3 0.9 93% Below average
92583San Jacinto 33,7783,892 3 0.8 92% Below average
92201Indio 65,82513,275 6 0.8 91% Below average
92595Wildomar 34,4386,332 3 0.8 87% Below average
92879Corona 49,31730,373 5 0.8 85% Below average
92530Lake Elsinore 61,76810,372 5 0.7 82% Below average
92880Corona 75,04315,562 6 0.7 79% Below average
92509Jurupa Valley 81,18214,455 6 0.7 74% Below average
92505Riverside 53,41914,275 4 0.7 72% Below average
92570Perris 58,0828,005 4 0.6 71% Below average
92591Temecula 41,95518,073 3 0.6 64% Below average
92882Corona 68,71513,420 4 0.5 58% Below average
92507Riverside 64,01536,439 4 0.5 53% Below average
91752Mira Loma 37,98330,704 0–2 — — Not published
92202Indio —147 0–2 — — Not published
92203Indio 34,7357,490 0–2 — — Not published
92210Indian Wells 4,8714,872 0–2 — — Not published
92220Banning 33,7554,989 0–2 — — Not published
92223Beaumont 63,8339,596 0–2 — — Not published
92225Blythe 20,3192,240 0–2 — — Not published
92226Blythe —72 0–2 — — Not published
92230Cabazon 1,8874,721 0–2 — — Not published
92235Cathedral City —173 0–2 — — Not published
92239Desert Center 14460 0–2 — — Not published
92241Desert Hot Springs 8,884513 0–2 — — Not published
92248La Quinta —160 0–2 — — Not published
92253La Quinta 38,66613,956 0–2 — — Not published
92254Mecca 11,333824 0–2 — — Not published
92255Palm Desert —27 0–2 — — Not published
92258North Palm Springs 474514 0–2 — — Not published
92261Palm Desert —195 0–2 — — Not published
92263Palm Springs —282 0–2 — — Not published
92264Palm Springs 19,8996,792 0–2 — — Not published
92270Rancho Mirage 17,56316,505 0–2 — — Not published
92276Thousand Palms 7,7203,400 0–2 — — Not published
92282Whitewater 1,419115 0–2 — — Not published
92320Calimesa 10,9022,887 0–2 — — Not published
92502Riverside —201 0–2 — — Not published
92504Riverside 57,13218,144 0–2 — — Not published
92506Riverside 45,08614,413 0–2 — — Not published
92508Riverside 36,9098,172 0–2 — — Not published
92513Riverside —11 0–2 — — Not published
92514Riverside —9 0–2 — — Not published
92516Riverside —29 0–2 — — Not published
92517Riverside —62 0–2 — — Not published
92518March Air Reserve Base 1,2607,735 0–2 — — Not published
92519Riverside —64 0–2 — — Not published
92521Riverside 0106 0–2 — — Not published
92531Lake Elsinore —17 0–2 — — Not published
92532Lake Elsinore 28,0553,451 0–2 — — Not published
92536Aguanga 2,970144 0–2 — — Not published
92539Anza 3,774384 0–2 — — Not published
92543Hemet 39,9376,464 0–2 — — Not published
92545Hemet 45,9828,142 0–2 — — Not published
92546Hemet —148 0–2 — — Not published
92548Homeland 8,312187 0–2 — — Not published
92549Idyllwild 4,0161,146 0–2 — — Not published
92551Moreno Valley 37,42522,245 0–2 — — Not published
92552Moreno Valley —70 0–2 — — Not published
92554Moreno Valley —13 0–2 — — Not published
92555Moreno Valley 45,97810,663 0–2 — — Not published
92556Moreno Valley —70 0–2 — — Not published
92557Moreno Valley 54,0613,639 0–2 — — Not published
92561Mountain Center 2,157180 0–2 — — Not published
92562Murrieta 64,78121,022 0–2 — — Not published
92563Murrieta 80,37914,262 0–2 — — Not published
92564Murrieta —200 0–2 — — Not published
92567Nuevo 10,867483 0–2 — — Not published
92571Perris 60,09621,347 0–2 — — Not published
92572Perris —99 0–2 — — Not published
92581San Jacinto —1,526 0–2 — — Not published
92582San Jacinto 23,3561,459 0–2 — — Not published
92584Menifee 61,3667,863 0–2 — — Not published
92585Menifee 29,5342,452 0–2 — — Not published
92586Menifee 20,7673,300 0–2 — — Not published
92587Menifee 18,2181,473 0–2 — — Not published
92589Temecula —338 0–2 — — Not published
92590Temecula 5,08922,770 0–2 — — Not published
92592Temecula 80,03516,196 0–2 — — Not published
92593Temecula —64 0–2 — — Not published
92596Winchester 38,9812,167 0–2 — — Not published
92877Corona —295 0–2 — — Not published
92878Corona —6,127 0–2 — — Not published
92881Corona 30,34713,748 0–2 — — Not published
92883Corona 39,9907,929 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Riverside

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Riverside retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Riverside retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Riverside retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Riverside County and convenience stores

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 445120 — convenience retailers. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. This industry has no clean QCEW series, so the freshest county signal is Census County Business Patterns 2023: 150 establishments and $24M in annual payroll county-wide. This count includes locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA, so it can be slightly higher than the sum of the ZIP rows. CBP is annual and slower than QCEW. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (0.91 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.