Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / California

Meadowbrook, California

Meadowbrook is an unincorporated community of about 2,600 people in Riverside County, California. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Riverside, is about 16 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,627
Census survey, 2020-24
Household income
$56,212
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Riverside area
106.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
7 miles
Sun City, CA
To Riverside
16 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 6.4% above the U.S. average in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area.
  • More house for the moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Meadowbrook to say.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Temescal Canyon High, about 4 miles away.
  • A hospital close byMenifee Global Medical Center in Sun City, about 7 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRiverside is about 16 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Meadowbrook meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Home prices since then
Up 11%Riverside County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,599 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$56,212U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
54%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,206 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
106.4U.S. average = 100 (the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 11% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area, not Meadowbrook alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2020-2024 Census survey
2,627The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
34.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
10%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
31%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
6%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
0%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Professional and business services (13%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
10%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
17%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Menifee Global Medical Center, Sun City, CA, about 7 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

There are no public schools inside Meadowbrook itself. The nearest public high school is Temescal Canyon High, about 4 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on California's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
81%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
90%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
42°F
July average high
96°F
Days 90°F or hotter
123 a year
Nights at or below freezing
9 a year
Rain and melted snow
11.7 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
1,632 feet

Weather station: Elsinore (4 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Menifee Global Medical Center, Lake Elsinore, Riverside.

Riverside County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Joshua Tree National Park51 miles

Read about Meadowbrook's history on Wikipedia.

Know Meadowbrook?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Warm Springs, CA (unincorporated)1,673 people, 3 miles
  • Romoland, CA (unincorporated)2,268 people, 8 miles
  • March ARB, CA (unincorporated)1,273 people, 11 miles
  • Lakeview, CA (unincorporated)2,062 people, 12 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.