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Work & commute in Carolina · A commuter town

100% of Carolina’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Carolina for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are South Kingstown (11%), Warwick (8%) and Richmond (8%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Work in town
0%
0 of 440 working residents
Typical commute
18 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
55 min
More than RI (26 min)
Work from home
4%
Less than RI (13%)
Jobs based here
57
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Carolina?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

11% of working residents work in South Kingstown

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

BristolPortlandWoonsocketProvidence: 26 residents work here (6%)Warwick: 36 residents work here (8%)Cranston: 18 residents work here (4%)Groton: 21 residents work here (5%)Narragansett: 12 residents work here (3%)Westerly: 32 residents work here (7%)South Kingstown: 47 residents work here (11%)HopkintonNorth Kingstown: 31 residents work here (7%)Richmond: 34 residents work here (8%)Charlestown: 18 residents work here (4%)CarolinaSouth KingstownWarwickRichmondWesterlyNorth KingstownProvidenceCarolina
1
South Kingstown6.5 mi away
11%47
2
Warwick20.7 mi away
8%36
3
Richmond2.6 mi away
8%34
4
Westerly12.1 mi away
7%32
5
North Kingstown13.1 mi away
7%31
6
Providence27.9 mi away
6%26
7
Groton, CT21 mi away
5%21
8
Cranston23.2 mi away
4%18
9
Charlestown6.2 mi away
4%18
10
Narragansett9.7 mi away
3%12
Everywhere elseother towns and states
38%165
The top trips

Where Carolina clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 55 minutes each way, longer than most of Rhode Island

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
418 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 17.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Carolina55 min
Rhode Island26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
4%

of Carolina workers work from home, vs 13% across Rhode Island. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
Day and night

Carolina quiets down on a workday

On a workday 440 residents head out to work, 0 work right here, and 57 people come in from elsewhere.

440live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
57work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,000
Workday670
1,000live here− 440head out to work+ 57come in to work= 670on a workday

About 670 people are in Carolina on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.13jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.13 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Carolina commutes less than 18 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi35 miSouth Kingstown: 11% · 6.5 miWarwick: 8% · 20.7 miRichmond: 8% · 2.6 miWesterly: 7% · 12.1 miNorth Kingstown: 7% · 13.1 miProvidence: 6% · 27.9 miGroton: 5% · 21 miCranston: 4% · 23.2 miCharlestown: 4% · 6.2 miNarragansett: 3% · 9.7 miSouth Kingstown 11%Warwick 8%Richmond 8%Westerly 7%North Kingstown 7%Carolina
CarolinaTop destinations (size = commuters)
30%Under 10 mi132 residents
45%10–24 mi196 residents
18%25–50 mi79 residents
8%Over 50 mi33 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

What the 57 jobs in Carolina are

57 jobs are based in Carolina. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carolina’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in CarolinaJobs Carolina residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms25%23%
Trade, transport & utilities7%15%
Services: health, schools, offices68%62%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less32%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month37%17%
Over $3,333 a month32%71%

Who does it

29 or younger19%21%
30 to 5433%46%
55 and older47%33%
+78%

Jobs based in Carolina, 2013 → 2023: 32 → 57. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Next door

12% of Carolina works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Richmond (8%). Darker towns draw more of Carolina’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Charlestown28 min
Richmond34 min
Carolina55 min
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.
  • Where the employer says. A job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.
  • Two surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Carolina

Carolina home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Carolina, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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