Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0Narragansett’s family incomes are higher than in 86% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Narragansett A−; getting around on foot earns it A−. Leaving out college students, 5.6% of residents live below the poverty line (Rhode Island 10.6%). For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.2 in Providence.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Narragansett: the figures worth knowing
Narragansett trades workers with the towns around it
Narragansett has about as many jobs (4,291) as working residents (5,030), but they are mostly different people: 4,260 residents leave for work each day while 3,521 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Narragansett are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Narragansett and South Kingstown trade workers both ways
South Kingstown is the top workplace for Narragansett residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Narragansett come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Narragansett’s workforce skews older
40% of Narragansett’s working residents are 55 or older. That’s about two in five. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Narragansett
21% of Narragansett workers work from home, against 13% across Rhode Island. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Narragansett’s Jobs & income grade
On family income, poverty and job access, Narragansett is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #12 of 38 in Rhode Island. Family income is its strongest input ($134,330, U.S. $99,999); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
21% of Narragansett’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (21% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 5.6%, against 19.0% for all residents. Unemployment (5.6%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($134,330), since student households pull the household median down ($95,721).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Narragansett could be anywhere from B− to A+.
The daily flow of workers through Narragansett
On a workday 4,260 residents head out to work, 770 work right here, and 3,521 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 (0.85 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
15% of working residents work in South Kingstown
Where Narragansett clocks in
15% of workers
11% of workers
7% 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.
Inside Narragansett’s 4,291 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Narragansett, 2014 → 2024: 4,054 → 4,291. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Narragansett’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Narragansett spends getting to work: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Narragansett workers work from home, vs 13% across Rhode Island. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,316 commuters (the 21% 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.
Half of Narragansett commutes less than 16 miles
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Narragansett
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Narragansett is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #16 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 6,766 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 94% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 27% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 69% 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). 3.3% of Narragansett households have no vehicle (Rhode Island 9.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Narragansett’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Narragansett ranks: 559th of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 144 | Barrington RI | 16,961 | $153K | 4.5% | 2.6% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 152 | Scituate RI | 10,767 | $112K | 5.0% | 1.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 205 | East Greenwich RI | 14,790 | $177K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 557 | Woodland Park NJ | 13,623 | $99K | 3.8% | 5.6% | 6% | A− |
| 558 | East Bridgewater MA | 14,602 | $134K | 4.6% | 5.1% | 7% | A− |
| 559 | Narragansett RI | 14,291 | $96K | 19.0% | 5.6% | 15% | A− |
| 560 | Roselle Park NJ | 15,603 | $110K | 6.6% | 4.8% | 5% | A− |
| 561 | Springfield Township MI | 14,832 | $110K | 7.0% | 3.4% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Narragansett, the top three, the last and three more from Rhode Island.
Work next door: 22% of Narragansett’s workers
The biggest share goes to South Kingstown (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Narragansett workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Narragansett | – | A− | A− | 28 min | $95,721 |
| South Kingstown | 15% | B | A | 25 min | $108,960 |
| Wakefield-Peace Dale | under 3% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Jamestown | under 3% | A− | A | 26 min | $140,625 |
| North Kingstown | 7% | A | B+ | 26 min | $126,293 |
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 Narragansett’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 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Students. 21% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Narragansett: questions
What is the median household income in Narragansett?
$95,721 (±$7,256) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $87,796 across Rhode Island and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Narragansett?
19.0% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 5.6%. Rhode Island: 11.2%.
How long is the commute from Narragansett?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Rhode Island and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Narragansett work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Kingstown (15%, 3 mi), Providence (11%, 30 mi), Warwick (7%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Narragansett walkable?
Narragansett is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Narragansett without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 27% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Narragansett, from the people who make the trip.
More of Narragansett
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.