675,912 people (2024 Census estimate, +2.4% since 2020)
409 square miles of land · 1,651 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
27 active community water systems list Providence County in the area they serve, reporting 603,436 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PROVIDENCE-CITY OF surface water · local government · RI1592024 | 333,142 served |
| PAWTUCKET WATER SUPPLY BOARD VEOLIA-NA surface water · local government · RI1592021 | 98,130 served |
| EAST PROVIDENCE-CITY OF buys surface water · local government · RI1615610 | 47,961 served |
| WOONSOCKET WATER DIVISION surface water · local government · RI1559518 | 45,828 served |
| LINCOLN WATER COMMISSION buys surface water · local government · RI1858423 | 21,664 served |
| CUMBERLAND, TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · RI1647530 | 21,235 served |
| GREENVILLE WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · RI1858410 | 9,500 served |
| SMITHFIELD WATER SUPPLY BOARD buys surface water · local government · RI1615616 | 9,460 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
No county jail figure in the national data for Providence County — not gathered, never hidden. Some counties share a regional jail or have none.
17 school districts have their office in Providence County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $632.6 million — $563 million to run schools, about $27,163 per student, plus $44.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $145.6 million local (mostly property tax), $339.8 million state, $139.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $152.3 million.
Spent $222.5 million — $203.7 million to run schools, about $19,924 per student, plus $13.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $103 million local (mostly property tax), $85.6 million state, $30.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $30.4 million.
Spent $200 million — $164.4 million to run schools, about $20,401 per student, plus $24 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $69.9 million local (mostly property tax), $216 million state, $72.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $85.6 million.
Spent $138.5 million — $120.2 million to run schools, about $21,121 per student, plus $9.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17.6 million local (mostly property tax), $82 million state, $34 million federal. Long-term debt: $40.6 million.
Spent $135 million — $104.8 million to run schools, about $19,877 per student, plus $20.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $54.9 million local (mostly property tax), $56.5 million state, $12.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $147.8 million.
Spent $88.3 million — $81.7 million to run schools, about $17,086 per student, plus $4.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $50.7 million local (mostly property tax), $27.6 million state, $8.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $23.3 million.
Spent $82.6 million — $70.7 million to run schools, about $20,115 per student, plus $7.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $34.2 million local (mostly property tax), $35.8 million state, $11 million federal. Long-term debt: $61.6 million.
Spent $75.9 million — $66.2 million to run schools, about $20,186 per student, plus $4.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $45.4 million local (mostly property tax), $23.2 million state, $4 million federal. Long-term debt: $11.1 million.
And 9 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Providence County about $129.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
480 bridges in Providence County: 130 in good condition, 283 fair, and 67 poor (14.0%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| I-95 NB & SB over THURBERS AV · built 1963 | 156,790 vehicles a day |
| I-95 NB & SB over NARR ELEC CO SIDING · built 1964 | 139,026 vehicles a day |
| I-95 NB & SB over AMTRAK · built 1964 | 129,532 vehicles a day |
| RI 146 ED DOWL HWY over BRANCH AV · built 1957 | 65,800 vehicles a day |
| US 6 EB & WB over RI 128 KILLINGLY ST · built 1969 | 59,930 vehicles a day |
| US 6 EB & WB over US 6A HARTFORD AV RAMP · built 1969 | 53,619 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $1.1 billion of work in Providence County in fiscal 2025, about $1,631 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Rhode Island are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Providence County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Providence County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Rhode Island: the state government and every county in Rhode Island.
Nearby counties: Kent County (13 mi) · Bristol County (19 mi) · Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT (20 mi) · Bristol County, MA (27 mi) · Norfolk County, MA (29 mi) · Newport County (30 mi).