Providence County · Rhode Island
Providence, RI jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Providence, RI earn a median of $37,429 a year, 16% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 7.4% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 29.6% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $37,429#75 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 7.4%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 64.4%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 93,035Civilian employed, age 16+
What Providence does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance29.6%
- Professional, scientific & management12.1%
- Manufacturing11.3%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food10.1%
- Retail trade10%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities5.9%
- Construction5.3%
- Finance, insurance & real estate5%
- Other services, except public administration4.5%
- Public administration2.4%
- Wholesale trade1.7%
- Information1.7%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.4%
Related data for Providence
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.