Providence is a relatively large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Rhode Island. With a population of 189,563 people and 42 associated neighborhoods, Providence is the largest community in Rhode Island. Providence has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.Unlike some cities, Providence isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Providence are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Providence is a city of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Providence who work in office and administrative support (9.89%), management occupations (8.47%), and sales jobs (8.37%). Also of interest is that Providence has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Providence telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 11.53% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Combining city textures and college town sensibilities, Providence really has a nice blend of characteristics. While not a huge city, Providence is big enough to offer a healthy dose of diversion, opportunity, and amenity to its residents and to the thousands of college students who descend on it every fall. Its size and diversity makes Providence more than just a college town, but removing the students from the equation would undeniably change Providence’s character and quality of life. Providence is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities. For the size of the city, public transportation in Providence is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the bus. For Providence, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.The citizens of Providence are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 34.46% of adults in Providence have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Providence in 2022 was $34,521, which is low income relative to Rhode Island, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $138,084 for a family of four. However, Providence contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Providence is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Providence home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Providence, accounting for 42.58% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Providence residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Providence include Irish, Italian, English, German, and French. Providence also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 31.62%. The most common language spoken in Providence is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
