Angell-Ballou House · Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Smithfield top those of 78% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 19.2 in Providence. Poverty touches 6.2% of residents, next to 11.2% for Rhode Island as a whole. For jobs and income Smithfield is better than 74% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Smithfield
Income, poverty and work: Smithfield’s grade explained
Job access by car holds Smithfield’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Smithfield could be anywhere from B to A.
18% of working residents work in Providence
Where Smithfield clocks in
18% of workers
6% of workers
6% 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.
Smithfield by day and by night
On a workday 8,254 residents head out to work, 1,442 work right here, and 12,214 people come in from elsewhere.
About 27,000 people are in Smithfield on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.41 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.
The 13,656 jobs based in Smithfield
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Smithfield, 2013 → 2023: 13,881 → 13,656. 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 Smithfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way for Smithfield’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Smithfield workers work from home, vs 13% across Rhode Island. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,966 commuters (the 14% 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.
Miles to work from Smithfield
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Smithfield
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,427 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 32% 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 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). 7.2% of Smithfield households have no vehicle (Rhode Island 9.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Smithfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,712 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 31,000, Smithfield comes 740th on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Barrington RI | 16,961 | $153K | 4.5% | 2.6% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 348 | Portsmouth RI | 17,474 | $117K | 4.9% | 3.1% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 398 | North Kingstown RI | 27,885 | $126K | 6.1% | 3.4% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 738 | Huntley IL | 29,132 | $89K | 8.6% | 3.6% | 6% | B+ |
| 739 | Ocean Township NJ | 28,088 | $109K | 8.2% | 5.3% | 11% | B+ |
| 740 | Smithfield RI | 22,625 | $102K | 6.2% | 6.0% | 15% | B+ |
| 741 | Sycamore IL | 19,083 | $84K | 8.1% | 3.0% | 20% | B+ |
| 742 | Tualatin OR | 28,139 | $104K | 10.0% | 4.4% | 14% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,712 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Smithfield, the top three, the last and three more from Rhode Island.
The towns around Smithfield
The biggest share goes to Lincoln (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Smithfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield | – | B+ | A | 25 min | $102,077 |
| Lincoln | 5% | B+ | B | 24 min | $104,821 |
| Johnston | 4% | B | B+ | 24 min | $91,866 |
| North Smithfield | under 3% | A | B+ | 26 min | $108,866 |
| Glocester | under 3% | A | C− | 34 min | $113,508 |
| North Providence | under 3% | B | A | 27 min | $83,756 |
| Harmony | under 3% | — | — | 35 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Harmony: 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 Smithfield’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 Smithfield: questions
What is the median household income in Smithfield?
$102,077 (±$8,074) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $87,796 across Rhode Island and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Smithfield?
6.2%, against 11.2% across Rhode Island and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Smithfield?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Rhode Island and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Smithfield work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Providence (18%, 8 mi), Warwick (6%, 15 mi), Cranston (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Smithfield walkable?
Smithfield is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Smithfield without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Smithfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Smithfield
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.