Photo: MVASCO · CC BY-SA 3.0At 9.0%, unemployment in Newport is higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute from Newport lasts 19 minutes (Rhode Island 26, U.S. 26). The two grades for Newport are C+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 6.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.2 in Providence.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Newport apart on work
How Newport earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Newport is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #35 of 38 in Rhode Island. Job access by car holds Newport’s grade up (ahead of 67% 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, Newport could be anywhere from C to B−.
About 19 minutes each way for Newport’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Newport workers work from home, vs 13% across Rhode Island. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,312 commuters (the 19% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Newport
On a workday 6,103 residents head out to work, 2,867 work right here, and 7,964 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 (1.21 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.
13% of working residents work in Middletown
Where Newport clocks in
13% of workers
7% 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.
Newport is a services town
10,831 jobs are based in Newport.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Newport, 2013 → 2023: 11,374 → 10,831. 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 Newport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Newport
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.
Newport is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Newport is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #1 of 38 in Rhode Island. Both inputs place Newport near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 12,655 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 90% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 52% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% 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). 11.8% of Newport households have no vehicle (Rhode Island 9.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Newport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Newport places 1,282nd of 1,642 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000
| # | 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 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 334 | Portsmouth RI | 17,474 | $117K | 4.9% | 3.1% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 384 | North Kingstown RI | 27,885 | $126K | 6.1% | 3.4% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 419 | Bristol RI | 21,970 | $98K | 6.5% | 2.8% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,280 | Niles OH | 18,116 | $51K | 16.2% | 4.2% | 15% | C+ |
| 1,281 | Sidney OH | 20,124 | $61K | 14.2% | 4.8% | 35% | C+ |
| 1,282 | Newport RI | 24,251 | $86K | 16.5% | 9.0% | 32% | C+ |
| 1,283 | Clinton Township OH | 19,781 | $61K | 14.2% | 4.9% | 35% | C+ |
| 1,284 | Greenville Township OH | 17,035 | $52K | 12.0% | 3.6% | 38% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Newport, the top three, the last and three more from Rhode Island.
13% of Newport works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Newport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newport | – | C+ | A+ | 19 min | $86,313 |
| Jamestown | under 2% | A− | A | 26 min | $140,625 |
| Newport East | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Middletown | 13% | B | A | 20 min | $101,948 |
Same-state neighbors only. Newport East: 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 Middletown. Darker towns draw more of Newport’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 Newport: questions
What is the median household income in Newport?
$86,313 (±$4,012) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $87,796 across Rhode Island and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Newport?
16.5%, against 11.2% across Rhode Island and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Newport?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Rhode Island and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Newport work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Middletown (13%, 4 mi), Providence (7%, 24 mi), Warwick (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Newport walkable?
Newport is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.0 out of 20, and 20% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Newport without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 52% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Newport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Newport
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.