Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Johnston (7.4%) than in 85% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Johnston for work; outside it, Providence is the main destination (22%, 5 miles). Johnston grades B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Commuters spend 24 minutes getting to work on average; Rhode Island averages 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Johnston: the figures worth knowing
Johnston trades workers with the towns around it
Johnston has about as many jobs (16,838) as working residents (14,220), but they are mostly different people: 12,670 residents leave for work each day while 15,288 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Johnston are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Johnston works one town over
37% of working residents work in a town that borders Johnston: Providence (22%), Cranston (9%) and Smithfield (4%). Next door ↓
Most Johnston residents work close to home
69% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Johnston has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Johnston went from 10,975 in 2013 to 16,838 in 2023, +53%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Johnston’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Johnston is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #29 of 38 in Rhode Island. Job access by car holds Johnston’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Johnston could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The daily flow of workers through Johnston
On a workday 12,670 residents head out to work, 1,550 work right here, and 15,288 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 (1.18 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.
Half of Johnston commutes less than 7 miles
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.
Inside Johnston’s 16,838 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Johnston, 2013 → 2023: 10,975 → 16,838. 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 Johnston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of Johnston: the destinations
Where Johnston clocks in
22% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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.
From Johnston, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Johnston workers work from home, vs 13% across Rhode Island. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,814 commuters (the 10% 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.
Getting around Johnston: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Johnston is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #24 of 38 in Rhode Island. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 14,215 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 58% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 14% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 84% 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). 5.3% of Johnston households have no vehicle (Rhode Island 9.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Johnston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Johnston places 764th of 1,415 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 21,000 to 41,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Cumberland RI | 37,615 | $118K | 3.9% | 3.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 324 | North Kingstown RI | 27,885 | $126K | 6.1% | 3.4% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 357 | Bristol RI | 21,970 | $98K | 6.5% | 2.8% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 762 | Mustang OK | 24,571 | $88K | 8.0% | 5.7% | 9% | B |
| 763 | Keene NH | 23,072 | $78K | 10.1% | 2.0% | 45% | B |
| 764 | Johnston RI | 30,494 | $92K | 7.9% | 7.4% | 11% | B |
| 765 | Port Chester NY | 32,303 | $92K | 12.9% | 5.4% | 10% | B |
| 766 | Franklin IN | 26,743 | $82K | 11.0% | 3.9% | 21% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,415 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Johnston, the top three, the last and three more from Rhode Island.
37% of Johnston works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Johnston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnston | – | B | B+ | 24 min | $91,866 |
| Providence | 22% | C | A+ | 25 min | $68,119 |
| North Providence | 2% | B | A | 27 min | $83,756 |
| Cranston | 9% | B | A− | 24 min | $90,206 |
| Smithfield | 4% | B+ | A | 25 min | $102,077 |
| Scituate | under 3% | A+ | C− | 31 min | $112,315 |
| Greenville | under 3% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Greenville: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Providence. Darker towns draw more of Johnston’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 Johnston: questions
What is the median household income in Johnston?
$91,866 (±$6,226) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $87,796 across Rhode Island and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Johnston?
7.9%, against 11.2% across Rhode Island and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Johnston?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Rhode Island and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Johnston work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Providence (22%, 5 mi), Cranston (9%, 4 mi), Warwick (8%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Johnston walkable?
Johnston is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Johnston without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 14% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Johnston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Johnston
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.