Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Work, pay and getting to work in Kingston
There are 1,033 jobs in Kingston for 1,319 working residents. Only 2% stay in Kingston for work; outside it, South Kingstown is the main destination (17%, 4 miles). The average commute takes 18 minutes each way (Rhode Island 26, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Kingston, in a few figures
Fewer jobs are based in Kingston than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Kingston fell from 3,690 in 2013 to 1,033 in 2023, −72%. 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 ↓
Nearly all the work in Kingston is services
93% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 1% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Kingston are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across Rhode Island. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Rhode Island worker. Time on the road ↓
Kingston’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kingston is Providence, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (160) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kingston, 2013 → 2023: 3,690 → 1,033. 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 Kingston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 18 minutes to work from Kingston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kingston workers work from home, vs 13% across Rhode Island. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,185 commuters (the 12% 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.
How many miles Kingston commutes
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.
Kingston by day and by night
On a workday 1,291 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 1,005 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 (0.78 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.
Commuting out of Kingston: the destinations
Where Kingston clocks in
17% of workers
12% of workers
5% 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.
Work in the towns next to Kingston
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kingston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | – | — | — | 18 min | $107,404 |
| Wakefield-Peace Dale | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Wakefield-Peace Dale: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kingston’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 Kingston: questions
What is the median household income in Kingston?
$107,404 (±$47,008) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $87,796 across Rhode Island and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kingston?
1.8%, against 11.2% across Rhode Island and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kingston?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Rhode Island and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kingston work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Kingstown (17%, 4 mi), Providence (12%, 25 mi), Cranston (5%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Kingston without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kingston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kingston
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.