Welcome to Providence ...

The coastal city of Providence is located in Providence County<1>. It is the County Seat and the capital of Rhode Island.

Providence was established in 1636.

When the people of Providence refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Providentian<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Providence has a population of 179,323 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Providence is 30 feet [9 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Providence lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Code for Providence: 401

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Providence had an population of 179,323 people. This is an increase of 0.72% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 3.29% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Providence had a population of 178,042 people (or 28.36% of the total population of Providence County). This makes Providence the county's most populous community.

The population of Providence represents 16.92% of the total population of Rhode Island (which has 1,052,567 people), making it the state's most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 178,042 people, the population of Providence increased 2.55% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 173,618 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Providence.

Communities Also Named Providence ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 76 communities that are also named Providence - they are located in Alabama (8), Arizona, Arkansas (2), California (2), Florida (3), Georgia (2), Illinois, Indiana, Kansas (2), Kentucky (7), Louisiana, Maryland (4), Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi (3), Missouri (2), North Carolina (6), Ohio (4), Ontario, Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (4), Tennessee (7), Texas (5), Utah, Virginia (3), Washington and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Providence.

Websites for Providence ...

Official Website:   www.providenceri.com/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.provchamber.com/

Junior League:   www.jlri.org/

Communities near Providence ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Providence.

• Fall River
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
  • Fall River is located in Bristol County (MA)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 89,792 people
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Fall River
  • From Providence to Fall River
• Warwick
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warwick
  • Warwick is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 81,189 people
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Warwick
  • From Providence to Warwick
• Taunton
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taunton
  • Taunton is located in Bristol County (MA)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 57,675 people
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Taunton
  • From Providence to Taunton
• Attleboro
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attleboro
  • Attleboro is located in Bristol County (MA)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 45,444 people
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Attleboro
  • From Providence to Attleboro
• Woonsocket
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woonsocket
  • Woonsocket is located in Providence County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 41,545 people
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Woonsocket
  • From Providence to Woonsocket
• Cumberland
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cumberland have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
  • Cumberland is located in Providence County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 35,207 people
• Coventry
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Coventry have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coventry
  • Coventry is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,931 people
• Franklin
  (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
  • Franklin is located in Norfolk County (MA)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,711 people
  • Google driving directions:
  • From your current location to Franklin
  • From Providence to Franklin
• North Attleboro
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Attleboro have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Attleboro
  • North Attleboro is located in Bristol County (MA)
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,470 people
• West Warwick
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Warwick have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Warwick
  • West Warwick is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 28,967 people

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Providence. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Providence.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Providence. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Providence.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Providence. Our list includes 363 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Providence.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Providence ...

Looking for more information about Providence? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Providence, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Providence.

Adding Providence to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Providence in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Providence was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

X2X - From that list, the Providence post office opened in 1773.

We also found Providence in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Providence.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Providence: www.providenceri.com/

The official website for State of Rhode Island: https://www.ri.gov/