Located roughly 40 miles (64 km) inland from the Pacific Ocean, Norco is known as “Horsetown, USA” and prides itself on being a "horse community”.

The area is dotted with corrals, farms, hitching posts, ranches, riding trails, and tack-and-feed supply stores; there are also city ordinances in-place requiring new construction to have a "traditional, rustic... Western flavor".

One of the most notable geographical features in Norco, visible from anywhere in the city, are the Santa Ana Mountains.

The most prevalent plant communities are sage scrub, chaparral shrubland, and riparian woodland.

In early summer, Norco receives overcast weather known as "May Gray" or "June Gloom".

Fall brings sunny and slightly cooler weather with little rain, but can be windy due to the Santa Ana winds that blow October and November.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Norco had a median household income of $82,074, with 9.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

According to the city's 2022 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[24] the top employers in the city are: Since 2017, Norco has been the location for Circle D Ranch, the housing and training facility for Disneyland's horses, many of which are used to pull the horse-drawn streetcars of the park's Main Street Vehicles attraction.

In that area, which borders eastern Corona and Riverside, an influx of Orange County commuters are buying homes for $500,000 and up that have few provisions for animal-keeping.

[citation needed] The original spirit of the town's incorporation was to promote "City living in a rural atmosphere".

[28] According to city ordinances, the architecture of Norco "shall reflect a desired Western theme," including qualities "described as rural, informal, traditional, rustic, low-profile and equestrian oriented".

Events included at the Fair are the rodeo, rodeo dance, calf dressing competition, pageants, exhibitions, cowboy poker, wild cow milking, snail races, talent show, pet parade, and "Family Fun Day".

[citation needed] In 2003, Norco became a charter city for the express purpose of protecting and preserving animal-keeping rights.

The charter was not extensive; it maintained nearly all aspects of California's General Law provisions, diverging only in three areas: horse trails, lot size, and animal-keeping rights.

To change any ordinances in Norco relating to those three topics requires a supermajority (four-fifths) vote of the City Council.

Norco contracts out for law enforcement services with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department through a regional station on Clark Avenue.