Old Congregational Church · Photo: Swampyank at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Scituate has lower unemployment (1.0%) than 94% of U.S. towns
Only 6% work in Scituate; the top destination outside it is Providence (18%, 11 miles). Jobs and income earn Scituate A+; getting around on foot earns it C−. Measured by household income, Scituate is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Scituate and work: the main findings
Scituate is a place people come home to
There are 1,473 jobs based in Scituate, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Scituate has about 6,700 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Scituate workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 26 across Rhode Island. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Scituate: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Scituate is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #2 of 38 in Rhode Island. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Scituate’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Scituate could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Who commutes out of Scituate, and who commutes in
On a workday 5,215 residents head out to work, 345 work right here, and 1,128 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,700 people are in Scituate on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
0.26 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.
Scituate’s commute takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Scituate workers work from home, vs 13% across Rhode Island. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,991 commuters (the 13% 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.
Out of Scituate to work: where people go
Where Scituate clocks in
18% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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.
What Scituate’s employers do
1,473 jobs are based in Scituate.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Scituate, 2013 → 2023: 1,323 → 1,473. 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 Scituate’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Scituate commutes
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.
Most of Scituate commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Scituate is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns, #37 of 38 in Rhode Island. Both inputs place Scituate 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 5,755 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% 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). 3.2% of Scituate households have no vehicle (Rhode Island 9.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Scituate’s commuters take a bus or train.
161st of 2,507: where Scituate ranks among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 159 | Columbia IL | 10,865 | $108K | 5.4% | 1.4% | 13% | A+ |
| 160 | West Caldwell Township NJ | 11,205 | $158K | 3.6% | 3.9% | 6% | A+ |
| 161 | Scituate RI | 10,767 | $112K | 5.0% | 1.0% | 6% | A+ |
| 162 | New Baltimore VA | 11,919 | $189K | 4.1% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 163 | Bondurant IA | 9,647 | $136K | 6.2% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 219 | East Greenwich RI | 14,790 | $177K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 234 | Richmond RI | 8,128 | $125K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 246 | North Smithfield RI | 12,990 | $109K | 4.8% | 2.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Scituate, the top three, the last and three more from Rhode Island.
Scituate and its neighbors: 17% work next door
The biggest share goes to Cranston (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Scituate workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scituate | – | A+ | C− | 31 min | $112,315 |
| Foster | under 3% | A | D | 33 min | $113,646 |
| Cranston | 10% | B | A− | 24 min | $90,206 |
| Johnston | 7% | B | B+ | 24 min | $91,866 |
| Coventry | under 3% | A− | B− | 26 min | $102,946 |
| Glocester | under 3% | A | C− | 34 min | $113,508 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Scituate’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 Scituate: questions
What is the median household income in Scituate?
$112,315 (±$23,280) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $87,796 across Rhode Island and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Scituate?
5.0%, against 11.2% across Rhode Island and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Scituate?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Rhode Island and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Scituate work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Providence (18%, 11 mi), Cranston (10%, 8 mi), Warwick (9%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Scituate walkable?
Scituate is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Scituate without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Scituate, from the people who make the trip.
More of Scituate
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.