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 190,792 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 where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Providence is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce 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 management occupations (9.45%), office and administrative support (8.81%), and teaching (8.73%). 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. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 12.69% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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. Providence is made interesting by being both a reasonably big city and having a major college student population: students here will find that the city provides a lot of amenities, culture, and opportunities for them. Providence is more than just a college town, however, though the thousands of students certainly are a major part of the character of the city, as well as a contributor to the local economy. 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. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery. Like elsewhere in America, most people in Providence use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Providence‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the bus. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.The citizens of Providence are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 34.69% of adults in Providence have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Providence in 2022 was $36,694, 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 $146,776 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 44.27% 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 (32.81%). The most common language spoken in Providence is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.
