Providence, RI
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Providence ranks 138th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 88th for income. A household earns $82,870 a year while median rent runs $1,396/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 2% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (40th of 300), while commute is the soft spot (255th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 183rd and home prices 253rd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Providence, your take-home is worth about $57,883 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 88th of 300↑16.8%$82,870
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 250th of 300102 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $81,426
- Per-capita income
- $46,155
- Full-time pay
- $50,096
Housing
- Median rent
- 183rd of 300↑39.2%$1,396/mo
- Home value
- 253rd of 300↑58.7%$471,000
- Property tax
- $4,946/yr · 1.1%
- Sales tax
- 7.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 164th of 3004.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 113th of 30036.5%
- Avg commute
- 255th of 30027.9 min
People
- Population
- 1,700,901
- Population change
- +4.7%
- Median age
- 41.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 15.3%
- Broadband
- 93.5%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 97th of 30042
- Natural-hazard loss
- 40th of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 114th of 30017.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Household income
- + Air quality
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Home prices
- – Commute
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — providence.
What jobs pay in Providence
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $438,290
- IT managers
- $171,220
- Financial managers
- $167,570
- Lawyers
- $133,000
- Pharmacists
- $130,840
- Software developers
- $130,690
- General & operations managers
- $110,360
- Registered nurses
- $99,880
- Civil engineers
- $99,310
- Web developers
- $98,140
- Accountants & auditors
- $95,020
- Secondary school teachers
- $92,110
- Elementary school teachers
- $86,720
- Plumbers
- $79,820
- Police officers
- $76,850
- Electricians
- $73,980
- Carpenters
- $61,910
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $60,610
- Construction laborers
- $59,280
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $50,690
- Customer service reps
- $47,170
- Janitors
- $38,160
- Waiters & waitresses
- $35,750
- Retail salespersons
- $35,230
- Cashiers
- $34,540
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Providence metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Rhode Island are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- New York4,990
- Florida3,020
- California2,271
- New Jersey1,956
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Providence
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Providence metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Providence metro?
- Median gross rent across the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area is $1,396 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Providence.
- What is the median household income in the Providence metro?
- A typical household in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area earns $82,870 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Providence expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area runs about 2% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Providence metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $81,426 (versus its face value of $82,870). CityLedger rates the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Providence metro?
- The median home value across the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area is $471,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Providence metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area is 4.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).