River Ranch's property market is dominated by recreational land rather than dense residential housing. River Ranch Acres, the community's platted subdivision, offers individually owned lots suited to RV placement, campers, or modest structures, while surrounding acreage supports ranching and rural living. The adjacent ownership RV park and the Westgate resort contribute seasonal and visitor traffic. Buyers here are typically seeking recreational retreats or rural homesites rather than conventional single-family subdivisions.

River Ranch is organized around two distinct pieces: the Westgate River Ranch Resort and Rodeo, a commercial hospitality property, and River Ranch Acres, the original platted subdivision of individually owned lots. An ownership RV park sits adjacent to the resort without being affiliated with it. Development is low-density and spread across the Kissimmee River floodplain and surrounding ranchland, with no traditional town center.

Life in River Ranch is defined by the outdoors and by western-Florida ranch culture. The Westgate resort brings rodeo events, horseback riding, trail rides, and cowboy-themed entertainment to the community, drawing visitors from across the region. For residents and property owners, the Kissimmee River provides fishing, airboating, and wildlife viewing in a setting far removed from urban Florida. The trade-off for that seclusion is a dependence on nearby Lake Wales and the Lakeland-Winter Haven area for everyday services.

River Ranch falls within the Polk County Public Schools system, one of the larger school districts in Florida, which serves students across the county. Because the community is lightly populated and remote, school-age families typically travel to campuses in the surrounding Polk County area. The district provides elementary, middle, and high school options, and nearby communities such as Lake Wales offer additional educational and community resources.

River Ranch is reached primarily by State Road 60, the main east-west corridor through southern Polk County, with the community lying just south of the highway on the Kissimmee River. Its remote location means personal vehicles are essential, and there is no public transit in the immediate area. Orlando, with its major airport and urban amenities, is roughly an hour's drive to the north, while Lake Wales provides the nearest sizable town for services.

Recreation in River Ranch revolves around the Kissimmee River and the cowboy culture of the Westgate River Ranch Resort and Rodeo, which offers horseback riding, trail rides, and regular rodeo events. The river itself supports fishing, airboating, and wildlife observation, with the Kissimmee chain of lakes and state conservation lands nearby. The area's ranchland and open country also lend themselves to hunting, camping, and off-road recreation.