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Towns / California

Winchester, California

Winchester is an unincorporated community of about 4,600 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. A typical home costs about 6.2 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Riverside, is about 24 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
4,555
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$493,500
Riverside County prices up 11% since 2022
Household income
$79,250
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Riverside area
106.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
5 miles
Sun City, CA
To Riverside
24 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 moneyA typical home costs 6.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • 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 town6 public schools: 4 elementary, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byMenifee Global Medical Center in Sun City, about 5 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRiverside is about 24 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 Winchester 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

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$493,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 11%Riverside County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,658 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$79,250U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
69%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$4,389 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
41%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%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 Winchester 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
4,555The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
30.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
5%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
22%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
15%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%
College students
7%share of all residents

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 (17%); schools, health care and social services (15%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
46 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
18%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
10%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 5 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

6 public schools in Winchester, run by Hemet Unified and Perris Union High.

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 any internet subscription
83%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
40°F
July average high
95°F
Days 90°F or hotter
120 a year
Nights at or below freezing
15 a year
Rain and melted snow
12.2 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
1,490 feet

Weather station: San Jacinto (8 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, Hemet, 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

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places, including Rocco Garbani Homestead.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Joshua Tree National Park40 miles

Read about Winchester's history on Wikipedia.

Know Winchester?

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

  • Romoland, CA (unincorporated)2,268 people, 6 miles
  • Lakeview, CA (unincorporated)2,062 people, 8 miles
  • Warm Springs, CA (unincorporated)1,673 people, 15 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.