What is Providence-Warwick's Life Score?

Providence-Warwick scores 46.7/100 (grade C+), rank #243 of 387. Signature wages at the 92nd percentile; stamps MID · RENT-SQUEEZE · cost DEAR · wages PEAK.

What pulls Providence-Warwick up or down?

Strongest: safety (97/100). Weakest: cost of living (15/100). Profile mark RENT-SQUEEZE; dimension gap 82.

How current is this data?

Federal releases current as of August 2026 (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA). Cadence varies by series; see methodology.

Metro Life Score

Providence-Warwick, RI-MA

Below-median composite Life Score — grade C+, 37th percentile of the national corpus.

Compiled by PlainCompare

46.7
Life Score / 100: C+
Grade (curved): #243
of 387 metros: 37%
composite percentile

View your shortlist

Data updated August 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog

The verdict

Providence-Warwick is below-median composite Life Score — #243 of 387 (46.7/100, grade C+, 37th percentile). Carried by safety at 97/100; held back most by cost of living at 15/100.

37th
composite percentile: #243
of 387 peers: 15th
cost dimension percentile: 92nd
wages dimension percentile

Life Score shape · MID · RENT-SQUEEZE · signature wages

Providence-Warwick: pay power is the signature

Providence-Warwick stamps MID · RENT-SQUEEZE with wages at the 92nd percentile of the metro corpus (PEAK) — ahead of its cost mark (DEAR, 15th) and composite #243. Safety (97/100) amplifies the lead; Cost of Living (15/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Providence-Warwick, RI-MA ranks #243 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #329 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.

BEA RPP 101.8 (rent-RPP 103.9). BLS median salary $77,588, 683,510 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Home Health and Personal Care Aides). HUD 2BR FMR $1,527/mo (studio $1,203).

FBI UCR (RI): 155 violent, 1040 property/100K. NCES: 13.3:1 ratio, 12.9% charter. DOL infant childcare $15,433/yr. EPA: 13 Superfund sites (RI).

Where Providence-Warwick sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

47 37th percentile higher than 37% of 387 US metros

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026

How the 46.7 is built

Providence-Warwick's Life Score, decomposed

Cost of Living 3.0 (6%) Wages 18.5 (40%) Rent 4.5 (10%) Safety 14.5 (31%) Schools 2.3 (5%) Childcare 1.6 (3%) Environment 2.3 (5%)

Dimension detail

How Providence-Warwick scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 15/100 (20%) Below average

Wages 92/100 (20%) Top 10%

Rent 30/100 (15%) Average

Safety 97/100 (15%) Top 10%

Schools 23/100 (10%) Below average

Childcare 16/100 (10%) Below average

Environment 23/100 (10%) Below average

Key Data Points

101.8

Cost Index (RPP)

$77,588

Avg Median Salary

$1,527

2BR Fair Market Rent

155

Violent Crime/100K (RI)

13.3:1

Student-Teacher Ratio

$15,433

Infant Childcare/yr (RI)

Superfund Sites (RI)

683,510

Total Employment

Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are RI state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.

Compare Providence-Warwick With...

Providence-Warwick vs Paducah Compare → Providence-Warwick vs Pocatello Compare → Providence-Warwick vs Wildwood Compare →

Ranking Context

Providence-Warwick outranks 37% of U.S. metros.

Rank	Metro	Score	Grade
#240	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	46.8	C+
#241	Bend, OR	46.8	C+
#242	Kansas City, MO-KS	46.9	C+
#243	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	46.7	C+
#244	Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL	46.5	C+
#245	Savannah, GA	46.4	C+
#246	Watertown-Fort Drum, NY	46.4	C+

Quality vs. Affordability

Providence-Warwick, RI-MA is bottom 37% lowest-quality nationally but only bottom 15% least affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.

Providence-Warwick, RI-MA (highlighted) among its 12 nearest composite-Life-Score peers, out of 387 tracked metros nationally. Crosshairs mark this peer neighborhood's own median composite score and cost-of-living score. Cost-of-living score is already inverted so higher = more affordable.

Read with Providence-Warwick

Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Providence-Warwick (MID · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/PEAK), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.

Bend, OR

ABS(composite) peer at 46.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/PEAK.

Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY

ABS(composite) peer at 46.8 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/PEAK.

Kansas City, MO-KS

ABS(composite) peer at 46.9 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/PEAK.

Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL

ABS(composite) peer at 46.5 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C+ vs this page's MID · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/PEAK.

Portland-South Portland, ME (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 15/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp CEILING vs this metro's DEAR.

Hanford-Corcoran, CA (cost pole)

ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 15/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp DEAR vs this metro's DEAR.

Providence-Warwick, RI-MA relocation guide

Stamp-branched guide for MID · RENT-SQUEEZE · DEAR/PEAK - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.

Using Providence-Warwick's middle-third Life Score

Providence-Warwick scores 46.7/100 overall, but Safety (96.9) and Cost of Living (15.0) sit 81.9 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.

Safety is the strongest of Providence-Warwick's seven dimensions (weighted 15% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
Cost of Living is the weakest (weighted 20% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
Paducah is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Paducah

A middle-third composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can sit well above or below it.

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Providence-Warwick Life Score 46.7/100 · signature wages · retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page

U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr