Photo: Brian Stansberry (photographer) · CC BY 4.0Providence has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Measured by household income, Providence is behind 81% of U.S. towns. 478 jobs are based in Providence for 1,100 working residents. For jobs and income Providence is better than 12% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Providence: the figures worth knowing
Providence workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 24 across Kentucky. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Providence than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Providence fell from 645 in 2013 to 478 in 2023, −26%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Few Providence workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Where Providence’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment holds Providence’s grade up (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Providence could be anywhere from D− to B−.
About 32 minutes to work from Providence
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Providence workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,064 commuters (the 1% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The kinds of work in Providence
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Providence, 2013 → 2023: 645 → 478. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Providence’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Providence on a workday
On a workday 973 residents head out to work, 127 work right here, and 351 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Providence on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
18% of working residents work in Madisonville
Where Providence clocks in
6% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Near or far: the trip to work from Providence
About 21% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Providence is a driving town
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 6.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,076 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.2% of Providence households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Providence’s commuters take a bus or train.
Providence next to U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900: 4,215th of 4,882 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 17 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | Windy Hills KY | 2,476 | $131K | 5.1% | 1.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,213 | University Park NM | 2,782 | $30K | 30.2% | 14.0% | 6% | D |
| 4,214 | Judson SC | 2,515 | $39K | 42.9% | 18.5% | 1% | D |
| 4,215 | Providence KY | 2,872 | $55K | 19.9% | 5.6% | 12% | D |
| 4,216 | New London OH | 2,368 | $50K | 15.3% | 8.2% | 14% | D |
| 4,217 | Myrtle Creek OR | 3,481 | $56K | 16.2% | 5.9% | 7% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Providence, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Providence: questions
What is the median household income in Providence?
$55,121 (±$8,686) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Providence?
19.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Providence?
32 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Providence work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Madisonville (18%, 14 mi), Dixon (6%, 9 mi), Princeton (4%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Providence walkable?
Providence is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Providence without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Providence, from the people who make the trip.
More of Providence
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.