Best PlacesProvidence County, RI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Providence County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Providence County ranks 939th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 35 minutes away. Its strengths are walkability and transit. The cost shows up in state finances, an overheated housing market, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Providence County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Providence County
The parts of Providence County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Lincoln & Cumberland Hill
Tree cover is thicker, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Foster & Hope
Streets are more car-dependent and fewer households have young kids.
Johnston, North Providence & North Scituate
Schools score higher and more residents vote.
Rumford
More adults hold degrees and biking is better.
Woonsocket, Smithfield & North Smithfield
It is quieter, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Riverside & East Providence
Scores close to Woonsocket, Smithfield & North Smithfield, except that heat risk is higher here.
Pawtucket, Central Falls & Valley Falls
Health care is harder to reach.
Providence
More homes sit empty and prices have run up more.
Cranston
Crime runs higher.
Providence County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Providence County's strengths and weaknesses
Providence County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Walkability is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Transit and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is state finances, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and noise also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Providence County ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of counties
- BikingBetter than 94% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of counties
Where Providence County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,309 a month, better than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Providence County
A household needs to earn about $108,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Providence County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,147, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Providence County's effective rate of 1.16%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Providence County
Providence County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Providence County.
Who works in Providence County, and how
Work in Providence County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Providence County
Providence County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties and more parkland per resident than 80% of counties. The coast is about 35 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Providence County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Providence County growing, and who is moving in?
Providence County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Providence, RI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Providence County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Providence County, month by month
Providence County sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Providence County
The nearest airport, Rhode Island Tf Green International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around Providence County
Schools across Providence County average a D+, better than 8% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ashton SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Mildred Aitken SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Clayville SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Cumberland MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Barrington Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Dr. Kevin M. Hurley Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Seekonk HighA · 68% proficient
- Barrington High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Classical High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Providence County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Providence County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Providence County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Providence County suits
Families
Schools land around the 8th percentile and crime safety beats 64%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Providence County
Is Providence County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Providence County ranks 939th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and big-city access, and lowest on state finances and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Providence County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $392,207. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $87,147 median income, cost of living beats 65% of counties.
Is Providence County safe?
Yes, Providence County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Providence County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 21. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Providence County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lincoln & Cumberland Hill, Foster & Hope, and Johnston, North Providence & North Scituate. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Providence County good for families?
Schools beat 8% of counties, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $1,309 a month.
Is Providence County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 65% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 64% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Providence County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Providence County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Providence County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Providence County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Providence County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Providence County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Providence County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Providence County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Providence County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.