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. One of the nice things about Providence is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities. Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Providence is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the bus helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Providence area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.The education level of Providence citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 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. In addition, Providence has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (31.62%). The most common language spoken in Providence is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
