Providence is a relatively large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Rhode Island. With a population of 190,792 people and 42 associated neighborhoods, Providence is the largest community in Rhode Island. Providence has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.

Also of interest is that Providence has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 12.69% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Providence is a nice balance between life in a moderately big city and the interesting diversions and culture that come from having a big college student population. The thousands of students who arrive on campus every fall will find that Providence has plenty of amenities and opportunities for them, while residents of Providence enjoy the lectures, music, art, and economic trickle-down that colleges typically provide. "Town and Gown" complement each other in Providence.

Not only is Providence a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a very large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. That’s because Providence is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Providence a pretty good place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

Providence is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

Like elsewhere in America, most people in Providence use a private automobile to get to work. But notably, a substantial number of Providence‘s citizens do make use of public transit in their daily commute, primarily riding the bus. This helps more people get to work with less air pollution, and require fewer highways to get them there.

The citizens of Providence are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 34.69% of adults in Providence have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Providence in 2022 was $36,694, which is low income relative to Rhode Island, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $146,776 for a family of four. However, Providence contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Providence is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Providence home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Providence, accounting for 44.27% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Providence residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Providence include Irish, Italian, English, German, and French.

Providence also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 32.81%.

The most common language spoken in Providence is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.