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Rhode Island brings to mind images of Providence, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you'll find in the good ole US of A.
However, like all states, Rhode Island has certain places that are going on hard times. These places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the places in Rhode Island that could use a helping hand.
To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 18 places in Rhode Island with more than 3,000 people.
Here are the ten poorest places in Rhode Island for 2021:
Again, this isn't a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it's just a look at the facts.
What's the poorst city in Rhode Island? According to the facts, Woonsocket is the poorest place in Rhode Island for 2021.
Rich people more your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the best places in Rhode Island or the most dangerous.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.
If you're looking for something more national, check out the poorest states in America or the poorest cities in America.
For more Rhode Island reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Rhode Island
- Cheapest Places To Live In Rhode Island
- Most Dangerous Cities In Rhode Island
The 10 Poorest Cities In Rhode Island For 2021
1. Woonsocket
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Woonsocket, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Rhode Island thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 41,603 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Rhode Island and the 3rd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Providence
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The second poorest city in Rhode Island is Providence.
The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 3rd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate 'only' ranks as the 4th highest in the Ocean State.
3. Central Falls
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Placing as the third poorest city, Central Falls's median income ranks as the lowest.
And that's a sign that there's a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 30.159818555831% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Ocean State.
4. Pawtucket
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Pawtucket ranks as the fourth poorest place in Rhode Island.
The town ranks as having the 4th lowest median household income and the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there's still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Narragansett Pier
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The fifth poorest city in Rhode Island is Narragansett Pier.
The city ranks as having the 5th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 4th highest in Rhode Island.
Still not the best news for Narragansett Pier.
6. Westerly
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Westerly ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Ocean State.
It ranks as having the 12th highest incidence of poverty and the 5th highest unemployment rate.
7. Wakefield-Peacedale
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Wakefield-Peacedale places as the seventh poorest city in Rhode Island.
The city of over 9,504 ranks as having the 10th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Newport
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Newport ranks as the eighth poorest city in Rhode Island.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 11th highest in the state.
9. Kingston
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Kingston couldn't stay out of the top ten poorest places in Rhode Island; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 18th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Kingston ranks as having the 7th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Rhode Island.
10. East Providence
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And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Rhode Island is East Providence.
The city of 47,483 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Ocean State.
How We Determined The Poorest Places In Rhode Island for 2021
The first thing that comes to most people's minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don't think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the "poorest places". So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2015-2019 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
- Unemployment Rate
The "median household income adjusted for the cost of living" attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they'd still feel poor.
The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.
After we collected the data for all 18 places with more than 3,000 people in Rhode Island, we ranked each place from 1 to 18 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a "Poor Score" with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Woonsocket, crowned the "Poorest Place In Rhode Island For 2021". You can download the data here.
There You Have It - The Poorest Places In Rhode Island For 2021
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Rhode Island, we weren't sure what we'd encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Rhode Island.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you're curious enough, here are the richest cities in Rhode Island, according to data:
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Richest: Cumberland Hill
2nd Richest: Greenville
3rd Richest: Warwick
For more Rhode Island reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Rhode Island
- Safest Places In Rhode Island
- Worst Places To Live In Rhode Island
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Rhode Island
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Rhode Island
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Woonsocket | 41,603 |
| 2 | Providence | 179,494 |
| 3 | Central Falls | 19,429 |
| 4 | Pawtucket | 71,844 |
| 5 | Narragansett Pier | 3,594 |
| 6 | Westerly | 17,553 |
| 7 | Wakefield-Peacedale | 9,504 |
| 8 | Newport | 24,663 |
| 9 | Kingston | 6,513 |
| 10 | East Providence | 47,483 |
| 11 | Pascoag | 4,594 |
| 12 | Newport East | 11,925 |
| 13 | Tiverton | 7,804 |
| 14 | Cranston | 81,254 |
| 15 | Valley Falls | 11,882 |
| 16 | Warwick | 80,993 |
| 17 | Greenville | 8,695 |
| 18 | Cumberland Hill | 8,249 |
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