Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pawtucket grades D overall, 35th of 38 graded towns in Rhode Island, mostly because of schools. Its schools rank behind 90% of the state's. In its favor, it is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 58 places on the National Register. Its National Register listings include Old Slater Mill and Trinity Church. On health, just 2 of Rhode Island’s 39 towns do worse. Slater Park, at 196 acres with 3.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Pawtucket beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Old Slater Mill| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Henry J. Winters School | PK–5 | 550 |
| Fallon Memorial School | PK–5 | 520 |
| Potter-Burns School | K–5 | 430 |
Old Slater Mill is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier. Its 58 National Register listings are more than in 95% of Rhode Island towns with a listing.
Census counts: 1,459 in 1830, 75,604 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1867 and 3 maps from 1894 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Rhode Island), ordered by how far Pawtucket is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Pawtucket. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaFenway Park
Big draw27 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw28 mi MuseumThe Breakers
16 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
19 mi Ancient siteHMS EndeavourGillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fenway Park: Gatorfan252525, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pawtucket, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Pawtucket.
Pawtucket sends many workers across the state line to Attleboro, is safe by national standards but not by Rhode Island’s and has cooler summers than most of the country, though not than most of Rhode Island.
Its public schools are run by the Pawtucket school district. Three of its 22 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Jenks Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 697 | D |
| William E. Tolman HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 995 | C |
| Jacqueline M. Walsh SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 173 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within RI on state tests and graduation
Pawtucket sits below the Rhode Island town median (14%) but above the median of U.S. towns (4.3%) on this measure. 6.4 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves.
| Pawtucket | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.2% | 14% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Slater Park | 3.2 mi | 196 |
| 2. Slater Mill Site | 0.3 mi | 3 |
| 3. Veterans Memorial Park | — | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
29% of working residents cross a state line to work, Attleboro among the top destinations.
Most working residents leave Pawtucket for work: only 12% work in town. 13% of residents live below the poverty line in Pawtucket, against 6.5% in Rhode Island’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. The median household income in Pawtucket is $68,000.
| Pawtucket | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 6.5% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $105,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.2% | 14% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
41% of Pawtucket adults sleep under 7 hours. Only 3 of the 38 Rhode Island towns we compare have a higher share of adults who smoke cigarettes than Pawtucket. 31% of Pawtucket adults get no exercise outside work.
| Pawtucket | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 33% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 10% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 34% | 36% |
| What stands out | Pawtucket | RI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.7% | 8.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 23.8% | 15.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 70% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 30 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pawtucket.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Pawtucket home is worth about $399,000, up 1.8% in a year, 21% below the Rhode Island typical home. 50% of households own their home in Pawtucket.
| Pawtucket | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 50% | 76% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 46% | 49% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,208 a month | $1,371 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
July afternoons average 82.5°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 80% of Rhode Island places with climate records; January nights average 22.1°.
Pawtucket has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. About 37 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Pawtucket | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 83°F | 82°F | 85°F |
| January low | 22°F | 21°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 25.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 94% of Rhode Island’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,484 to 1,122 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Only 3 of the 35 Rhode Island towns we compare have a higher violent crime rate than Pawtucket. Pawtucket’s property crime rate is 12.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Pawtucket | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.3 per 1,000 residents | 4.9 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
10 within 15 miles of the center of Pawtucket
About 6 of every 100 Pawtucket residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Rhode Island.
Where Pawtucket’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
58 places in Pawtucket on the National Register of Historic Places.
46 notable people were born in Pawtucket.
City in Rhode Island, United States
Pawtucket ( pə-TUK-it) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls and Lincoln to the north, and North Providence to the west. The city also borders the Massachusetts municipalities of Seekonk and Attleboro. Pawtucket was an early and important center of textile manufacturing. It is home to Slater Mill, a historic textile mill recognized for its role helping to found the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Pawtucket.
| Town | RI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pawtucket | #35 | D | C | C+ | D | C |
| Central Falls | #38 | D− | C− | C+ | D− | D− |
| Providence | #36 | D | D | C | D | C+ |
| North Providence | #28 | B | C− | B+ | B− | B |
| East Providence | #32 | C+ | C− | — | C+ | B− |
East Providence reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Pawtucket with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pawtucket grades D overall, better than 12% of U.S. towns and #35 of 38 in Rhode Island. It grades C for health, C+ for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Rhode Island has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Pawtucket sits nearer the middle.
Yes. That is 4.6 years of the area's median household income ($87,040 across the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
46 notable people were born here, including Wendy Carlos and Kevin Lima.
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