Jobs in the United States → United States guide → Cities → Providence

Working in Providence, RI

Jobs, pay and daily life in Providence, from official statistics with source and year on every table.

In short: Providence (Rhode Island): 191,767 residents, median household income $68,119, median rent $1,408, unemployment 3.5%.
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Map: Providence in Rhode Island

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By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.

191,767residents (ACS 2024)
$68,119median household income
$1,408median rent a month
3.5%unemployment (BLS)
34.6%bachelor's degree or higher
41.4%homeowners

Overview

CITY (Providence) Official statistic Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year (via Census Reporter) · Data: ACS 2020–2024

Providence is a city in Rhode Island with 191,767 residents. The median household earns $68,119 a year and the median rent is $1,408 a month, which is 24.8% of the median household income. It is part of the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metropolitan area, where BLS counts 714,120 jobs.

Federal jobs in Rhode Island (98) →State guide: Rhode IslandCountry guide

Jobs

LIVE (federal) + METRO Live feed + official statistic Source: USAJOBS (federal jobs only) · BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 · Data: 07/11/2026

There are 98 federal postings open in Rhode Island (USAJOBS, state level; we do not have a city filter for them). Private-sector jobs are not in this feed.

Open federal jobs in Rhode Island →

Occupations with the most jobs in the metro (among our 240 niches)

Sort:
Occupation ⇅Jobs ⇅Location quotient ⇅Median pay (year) ⇅Entry (10th pct.) ⇅Top (90th pct.) ⇅Median vs US ⇅
Fast Food and Counter Workers21,5301.22$33,700$31,200$36,700+8%
Retail Salespersons20,9101.17$35,230$31,200$46,570-1%
Home Health and Personal Care Aides15,6700.79$40,890$35,960$46,620+14%
Registered Nurses15,1800.98$99,880$77,410$135,240+2%
Cashiers14,4401.02$34,540$31,200$44,840+5%
General and Operations Managers14,1100.88$110,360$60,420$227,770+4%
Waiters and Waitresses13,6001.30$35,750$31,200$62,680+1%
Nursing Assistants13,0301.96$46,330$39,220$54,880+10%
Stockers and Order Fillers12,0200.92$36,640$31,510$47,380-2%
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand10,9000.80$40,370$33,640$57,150+0%
Office Clerks, General10,6900.94$47,450$34,510$65,810+5%
Customer Service Representatives10,6200.89$47,170$35,200$64,240+5%
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners9,6600.95$38,160$31,450$52,520+4%
Cooks, Restaurant8,8501.37$37,460$31,840$49,660+0%
Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary8,4001.29$38,060$31,200$49,050+3%
Accountants and Auditors8,2501.24$95,020$60,620$149,540+14%
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers7,0300.74$60,610$45,560$74,970+3%
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive7,0200.89$51,800$37,970$72,740+9%
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers6,9301.05$74,470$50,360$102,200+7%
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education6,7701.38$92,110$52,510$100,370+28%

Highest-paying occupations in the metro (at least 500 jobs)

Sort:
Occupation ⇅Jobs ⇅Location quotient ⇅Median pay (year) ⇅Entry (10th pct.) ⇅Top (90th pct.) ⇅Median vs US ⇅
Chief Executives6500.69$243,620$113,970$552,750+14%
Physicians, All Other1,2900.82$234,000$80,860$351,580-12%
Architectural and Engineering Managers6200.61$172,640$124,390$254,650+1%
Dentists, General5801.02$172,310$95,460$326,350+1%
Computer and Information Systems Managers1,6000.52$171,220$104,700$264,980-2%
Financial Managers3,2800.85$167,570$97,560$300,520+1%
Human Resources Managers7300.73$163,290$103,380$265,010+9%
Managers, All Other1,0000.35$160,040$85,520$269,870+13%
Sales Managers1,7700.61$148,880$80,860$258,950+0%
Physician Assistants9501.28$139,930$96,870$187,080+3%
Nurse Practitioners1,5401.04$135,520$106,020$174,650+2%
Lawyers2,3800.69$133,000$80,200$268,330-17%
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer1,0802.43$132,870$89,540$195,190+2%
Computer Network Architects5200.63$131,320$79,800$184,090-2%
Pharmacists1,8801.27$130,840$86,620$159,280-7%
Software Developers5,0200.65$130,690$84,130$172,090-4%
Veterinarians5201.35$129,390$102,960$199,240-1%
Computer Systems Analysts2,0500.86$128,580$75,650$173,900+21%
Industrial Production Managers1,2301.09$124,810$79,870$202,500-1%
Computer and Information Research Scientists5103.01$123,390$91,230$174,630-12%

Economy

METRO (Providence-Warwick, RI-MA) Official statistic Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 · BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics · Data: OEWS May 2025; BLS 2026M09

These figures are for the whole Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metropolitan area, not the city alone.

Sort:
Occupation field ⇅Jobs ⇅Location quotient ⇅Median pay ⇅Median vs US ⇅
Office and Administrative Support75,7500.93$49,530+4%
Food Preparation and Serving Related74,2701.18$35,090+0%
Sales and Related62,0701.01$38,030-1%
Transportation and Material Moving54,7300.87$44,170-0%
Educational Instruction and Library51,1501.22$64,570+7%
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical47,8501.06$93,900+9%
Business and Financial Operations46,9600.97$85,400+3%
Management44,9800.88$124,810-1%
Production42,6401.08$47,830+2%
Healthcare Support39,5801.09$45,260+18%
Construction and Extraction27,6300.94$65,250+10%
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair23,3600.84$60,340+1%
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance21,4701.03$43,530+16%
Protective Service17,9301.03$60,650+21%
Computer and Mathematical17,7900.74$104,650-4%
Community and Social Service17,5901.44$60,150+3%
Personal Care and Service15,9601.07$36,970+2%
Architecture and Engineering11,8600.99$103,290+4%
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media9,1700.98$63,120+1%
Legal5,4600.91$80,490-21%
Life, Physical, and Social Science5,4400.80$89,040+8%
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry4900.25$37,990+4%

Median pay across all occupations: $53,680 (US $50,980); unemployment 3.5% (2026M09).

Industries where residents work

Sort:
Industry (residents) ⇅Share of employed residents ⇅
Education and health care29.0%
Professional, scientific, management, administrative12.1%
Manufacturing10.7%
Retail trade10.6%
Arts, entertainment, accommodation, food10.5%
Transportation, warehousing, utilities5.6%
Construction5.3%
Finance, insurance, real estate5.1%
Other services4.3%
Public administration2.7%
Wholesale trade1.9%
Information1.7%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining0.5%

Commuting

CITY (Providence) Official statistic Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year (via Census Reporter) · Data: ACS 2020–2024

Sort:
How residents get to work ⇅Share ⇅
Drive alone60.5%
Public transit4.1%
Walk7.3%
Work from home14.3%
Commute of 45 minutes or more15.2%

Shares are of workers aged 16 and over; they describe residents, wherever they work.

Pay and cost

CITY + METRO Official statistic Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year (via Census Reporter) · BEA Regional Price Parities · Data: ACS 2020–2024; RPP 2024

Sort:
Indicator ⇅Value ⇅
Median household income$68,119
Income per person$37,138
Median gross rent per month$1,408
Yearly rent as share of median household income24.8%
Median home value$362,200
Homeowners41.4%
Poverty rate20.7%
Price level of the metro area (US = 100)101.8
Metro median pay, all occupations$53,680

Does this salary work here? (estimate)

Estimate for a wage earner: 2026 federal brackets and standard deduction (IRS), Social Security 6.2% up to $184,500, Medicare 1.45% (+0.9% above $200,000 single / $250,000 married), and a state rate you set; graduated states show 0 until you enter your own estimate. It ignores credits, pre-tax deductions, local taxes and benefits. Sources: IRS: tax year 2026 inflation adjustments · SSA wage base per Federal Register notice 2025-19763.

State tax: Graduated, top rate 5.99%.

People and education

CITY (Providence) Official statistic Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year (via Census Reporter) · Data: ACS 2020–2024

Sort:
Indicator ⇅Value ⇅
Median age32.8
High school or higher (25+)82.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)34.6%
Born abroad33.5%
Labour force participation (16+)64.3%

Where the foreign-born residents come from (by region)

Latin America19,098 (63.3%)
Africa4,512 (15.0%)
Asia4,162 (13.8%)
Europe2,054 (6.8%)
Northern America334 (1.1%)

Work permits are federal: see permits and first steps.

Climate

CITY (Providence) Model estimate on a 0.5° grid Source: NASA POWER climatology (MERRA-2, 2001–2025) · Data: monthly means 2001–2025

Sort:
Month ⇅Mean temperature (°C) ⇅Mean temperature (°F) ⇅Precipitation (mm) ⇅
Jan-2.72785
Feb-1.82986
Mar1.935113
Apr7.846109
May13.85790
Jun18.966107
Jul22.97391
Aug22.57289
Sep18.76696
Oct12.154123
Nov6.043101
Dec0.833117

Satellite-reanalysis climatology on a grid of roughly 50 km, so it smooths local effects (hills, coast, city heat). It is not a weather-station record.

Nearby cities

CITY Calculation Source: straight-line distance from coordinates (Census Gazetteer) · Data: 2024

Sort:
City ⇅State ⇅Distance (straight line) ⇅Population ⇅Median household income ⇅Median rent ⇅
WorcesterMA37 mi207,055$70,102$1,487
BostonMA41 mi673,822$97,791$2,196
CambridgeMA41 mi118,796$130,748$2,787
LowellMA57 mi118,368$78,658$1,625
SpringfieldMA61 mi154,749$52,656$1,144
HartfordCT65 mi121,127$46,411$1,269
New HavenCT86 mi134,349$56,851$1,488
BridgeportCT102 mi149,153$58,685$1,450
StamfordCT122 mi137,144$111,586$2,276
YonkersNY141 mi209,978$83,549$1,784

Straight-line distance in miles, not driving distance.

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FAQ

How many people live in Providence?

191,767 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimate).

What is the median rent in Providence?

$1,408 a month (ACS 2020–2024), which is 24.8% of the median household income.

What is the median household income in Providence?

$68,119 (ACS 2020–2024, in 2024 dollars).

What is the unemployment rate in Providence?

3.5% (BLS metro area 2026M09).

Which state is Providence in?

Rhode Island. See the state guide for minimum wage, taxes and pay.

Sources

Sources

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