Central Falls vs Providence

A side-by-side comparison of Central Falls and Providence: population, income, housing, and more.

Central Falls and Providence are places in Rhode Island. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Providence has the higher population (190,214 vs 22,481 in Central Falls). Providence has the higher median household income ($66,772 vs $45,921 in Central Falls). Providence has the higher median home value ($322,800 vs $300,500 in Central Falls).

Population, income & housing

	Central Falls	Providence
Population	22,481	190,214
Median age	31.9 yrs	32.9 yrs
Median household income	$45,921	$66,772
Median home value	$300,500	$322,800
Median gross rent	$1,118	$1,333
Housing units	8,341	79,275
Homeownership rate	28.6%	41.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	11.5%	34.7%
Unemployment rate	10.0%	7.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Central Falls	Providence
Population	19,429 → 22,481 (+15.7%)	179,494 → 190,214 (+6.0%)
Median household income	$32,982 → $45,921 (+39.2%)	$45,610 → $66,772 (+46.4%)
Median home value	$159,100 → $300,500 (+88.9%)	$200,300 → $322,800 (+61.2%)
Median gross rent	$852 → $1,118 (+31.2%)	$994 → $1,333 (+34.1%)

Central Falls

Population

19,42922,481

Median household income

$32,982$45,921

Median home value

$159,100$300,500

Median gross rent

$852$1,118

Providence

Population

179,494190,214

Median household income

$45,610$66,772

Median home value

$200,300$322,800

Median gross rent

$994$1,333

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Central Falls	Providence
Under 5	7.7%	5.4%
5 to 17	19.2%	14.8%
18 to 24	10.4%	16.5%
25 to 34	17.3%	17.3%
35 to 44	14.6%	12.6%
45 to 54	10.4%	11.9%
55 to 64	11.3%	9.9%
65 to 74	5.3%	6.8%
75 and over	3.8%	4.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Central Falls	Providence
White (non-Hispanic)	16.1%	34.0%
Black or African American	7.9%	11.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.4%
Asian	0.2%	5.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	2.0%	0.8%
Two or more races	4.4%	3.4%
Hispanic or Latino	69.3%	44.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Central Falls	Providence
No high school diploma	39.6%	18.1%
High school graduate	29.7%	27.5%
Some college or associate's	19.1%	19.8%
Bachelor's degree	9.9%	18.3%
Graduate or professional degree	1.7%	16.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Central Falls	Providence
Drove alone	65.0%	62.6%
Carpooled	15.9%	9.8%
Public transit	4.1%	4.2%
Walked	2.8%	7.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.8%
Worked from home	4.6%	12.7%
Other means	7.5%	2.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Central Falls	Providence
1-unit, detached	11.8%	24.9%
1-unit, attached	5.0%	3.7%
2 to 4 units	65.4%	47.0%
5 to 19 units	7.4%	9.8%
20 or more units	10.5%	14.5%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.2%

Poverty & households

	Central Falls	Providence
Poverty rate	22.3%	20.1%
Average household size	2.89	2.48
Mean commute (minutes)	25	25
Median year structure built	1944	1938