Providence vs Woonsocket

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

Providence and Woonsocket 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 43,074 in Woonsocket). Providence has the higher median household income ($66,772 vs $58,614 in Woonsocket). Providence has the higher median home value ($322,800 vs $268,000 in Woonsocket).

Population, income & housing

	Providence	Woonsocket
Population	190,214	43,074
Median age	32.9 yrs	35.7 yrs
Median household income	$66,772	$58,614
Median home value	$322,800	$268,000
Median gross rent	$1,333	$1,116
Housing units	79,275	19,436
Homeownership rate	41.2%	38.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	34.7%	18.6%
Unemployment rate	7.4%	8.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Providence	Woonsocket
Population	179,494 → 190,214 (+6.0%)	41,603 → 43,074 (+3.5%)
Median household income	$45,610 → $66,772 (+46.4%)	$42,595 → $58,614 (+37.6%)
Median home value	$200,300 → $322,800 (+61.2%)	$173,300 → $268,000 (+54.6%)
Median gross rent	$994 → $1,333 (+34.1%)	$912 → $1,116 (+22.4%)

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

Woonsocket

Population

41,60343,074

Median household income

$42,595$58,614

Median home value

$173,300$268,000

Median gross rent

$912$1,116

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Providence	Woonsocket
Under 5	5.4%	7.2%
5 to 17	14.8%	16.0%
18 to 24	16.5%	7.1%
25 to 34	17.3%	18.1%
35 to 44	12.6%	12.6%
45 to 54	11.9%	12.1%
55 to 64	9.9%	12.9%
65 to 74	6.8%	8.3%
75 and over	4.7%	5.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Providence	Woonsocket
White (non-Hispanic)	34.0%	53.8%
Black or African American	11.3%	6.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.2%
Asian	5.8%	6.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.8%	0.8%
Two or more races	3.4%	6.5%
Hispanic or Latino	44.3%	25.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Providence	Woonsocket
No high school diploma	18.1%	18.1%
High school graduate	27.5%	37.7%
Some college or associate's	19.8%	25.7%
Bachelor's degree	18.3%	12.7%
Graduate or professional degree	16.4%	5.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Providence	Woonsocket
Drove alone	62.6%	76.3%
Carpooled	9.8%	11.2%
Public transit	4.2%	1.9%
Walked	7.3%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.8%	0.2%
Worked from home	12.7%	4.5%
Other means	2.6%	4.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Providence	Woonsocket
1-unit, detached	24.9%	25.2%
1-unit, attached	3.7%	2.4%
2 to 4 units	47.0%	40.7%
5 to 19 units	9.8%	22.3%
20 or more units	14.5%	9.3%
Mobile home & other	0.2%	0.2%

Poverty & households

	Providence	Woonsocket
Poverty rate	20.1%	19.7%
Average household size	2.48	2.42
Mean commute (minutes)	25	29
Median year structure built	1938	1950