Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Pawtucket (7.3%) is higher than in 84% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Pawtucket itself; outside it, Providence draws the most (19%, 4 miles). For jobs and income Pawtucket is better than 43% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (A). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 9.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 19.2 in Providence.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Pawtucket in brief
Pawtucket and Providence trade workers both ways
Providence is the top workplace for Pawtucket residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Pawtucket come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Pawtucket residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 3% work more than 50 miles away. 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.
The figures behind Pawtucket’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Pawtucket’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pawtucket could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Where Pawtucket’s working residents head each day
Where Pawtucket clocks in
19% of workers
5% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Pawtucket
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.
Pawtucket on a workday afternoon
On a workday 28,996 residents head out to work, 3,951 work right here, and 15,502 people come in from elsewhere.
About 64,000 people are in Pawtucket on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.59 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What work there is in Pawtucket: 19,453 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pawtucket, 2013 → 2023: 22,169 → 19,453. 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 Pawtucket’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Pawtucket: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pawtucket workers work from home, vs 13% across Rhode Island. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 34,640 commuters (the 9% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Pawtucket
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 38,157 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 79% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 12.7% of Pawtucket households have no vehicle (Rhode Island 9.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Pawtucket’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pawtucket places 430th of 572 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 54,000 to 104,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 255 | Warwick RI | 84,187 | $89K | 7.6% | 5.1% | 23% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 311 | Cranston RI | 84,647 | $90K | 10.2% | 6.1% | 16% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 428 | National City CA | 57,807 | $67K | 14.6% | 6.6% | 9% | C+ |
| 429 | Homestead FL | 86,242 | $65K | 18.4% | 4.0% | 10% | C+ |
| 430 | Pawtucket RI | 77,065 | $68K | 13.3% | 7.3% | 12% | C+ |
| 431 | Meriden CT | 60,810 | $71K | 13.2% | 8.0% | 17% | C+ |
| 432 | Upper Darby Township PA | 85,458 | $71K | 14.4% | 8.9% | 7% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 572 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Pawtucket, the top three, the last and three more from Rhode Island.
28% of Pawtucket works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pawtucket workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pawtucket | – | C+ | A | 26 min | $68,310 |
| Central Falls | under 3% | C− | A+ | 27 min | $49,285 |
| Providence | 19% | C | A+ | 25 min | $68,119 |
| North Providence | under 3% | B | A | 27 min | $83,756 |
| East Providence | 5% | B | A | 23 min | $75,912 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Providence. Darker towns draw more of Pawtucket’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 Pawtucket: questions
What is the median household income in Pawtucket?
$68,310 (±$4,475) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $87,796 across Rhode Island and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pawtucket?
13.3%, against 11.2% across Rhode Island and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pawtucket?
26 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Rhode Island and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pawtucket work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Providence (19%, 4 mi), Warwick (5%, 12 mi), East Providence (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pawtucket walkable?
Pawtucket is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 15.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pawtucket without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 79% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pawtucket, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pawtucket
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.