Photo: Eric Harrison · CC BY-SA 2.0More people are out of work in Cranston (6.1%) than in 75% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.2 in Providence. Cranston grades B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in seven work in Cranston; the top destination outside it is Providence (23%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Cranston stands out on work
Cranston trades workers with the towns around it
Cranston has about as many jobs (34,302) as working residents (39,736), but they are mostly different people: 33,236 residents leave for work each day while 27,802 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Cranston are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Cranston works one town over
41% of working residents work in a town that borders Cranston: Providence (23%), Warwick (11%) and Johnston (4%). Next door ↓
Most Cranston residents work close to home
70% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Cranston
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cranston is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #30 of 38 in Rhode Island. Job access by car holds Cranston’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cranston could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Cranston by day and by night
On a workday 33,236 residents head out to work, 6,500 work right here, and 27,802 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The commute from Cranston, by distance
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.
Where the trip to work from Cranston ends
Where Cranston clocks in
23% of workers
11% 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.
What the 34,302 jobs in Cranston are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cranston, 2013 → 2023: 33,031 → 34,302. 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 Cranston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Cranston: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cranston workers work from home, vs 13% across Rhode Island. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 36,515 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Rhode Island: 83% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Cranston is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cranston is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #15 of 38 in Rhode Island. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Rhode Island.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 41,976 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 38% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.4% of Cranston households have no vehicle (Rhode Island 9.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Cranston’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Cranston ranks: 290th of 538 U.S. towns of 59,000 to 114,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 234 | Warwick RI | 84,187 | $89K | 7.6% | 5.1% | 23% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 288 | Sparks NV | 111,902 | $89K | 8.5% | 5.2% | 23% | B |
| 289 | Auburn AL | 85,113 | $64K | 25.4% | 3.2% | 44% | B |
| 290 | Cranston RI | 84,647 | $90K | 10.2% | 6.1% | 16% | B |
| 291 | Woodland CA | 62,513 | $90K | 8.2% | 5.8% | 25% | B |
| 292 | Marietta GA | 63,574 | $73K | 12.8% | 3.8% | 13% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 403 | Pawtucket RI | 77,065 | $68K | 13.3% | 7.3% | 12% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 538 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Cranston, the top three, the last and three more from Rhode Island.
Work next door: 41% of Cranston’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cranston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranston | – | B | A− | 24 min | $90,206 |
| Warwick | 11% | B+ | B+ | 25 min | $88,708 |
| Johnston | 4% | B | B+ | 24 min | $91,866 |
| Providence | 23% | C | A+ | 25 min | $68,119 |
| Scituate | under 2% | A+ | C− | 31 min | $112,315 |
| Coventry | under 2% | A− | B− | 26 min | $102,946 |
| West Warwick | under 2% | B+ | A− | 25 min | $77,608 |
| East Providence | 3% | B | A | 23 min | $75,912 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Providence. Darker towns draw more of Cranston’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Cranston: questions
What is the median household income in Cranston?
$90,206 (±$4,068) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $87,796 across Rhode Island and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cranston?
10.2%, against 11.2% across Rhode Island and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cranston?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Rhode Island and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cranston work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Providence (23%, 5 mi), Warwick (11%, 6 mi), Johnston (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cranston walkable?
Cranston is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 13.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cranston without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 38% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cranston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cranston
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.