Work & commute · Charlestown

Work & commute in Charlestown, RI

Most working residents leave Charlestown for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are South Kingstown (14%), Westerly (8%) and Providence (6%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

288 of 3,381 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,093 Charlestown residents head out of town to work, 288 work right here, and 922 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Charlestown.

3,093live here, work elsewhere

288live and work here

922work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Charlestown goes to work

South Kingstown7.4 mi away

14%468

Charlestown (in town)right here

9%288

Westerly7.1 mi away

8%282

Providence34 mi away

6%208

North Kingstown18.3 mi away

6%206

Warwick26.6 mi away

6%197

Richmond8.5 mi away

4%142

Cranston29.3 mi away

4%125

Narragansett10.2 mi away

3%118

Groton, CT18.3 mi away

3%93

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%1,254

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Charlestown commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

33%

36%

24%

33%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Charlestown is a commuter town

0.36jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Charlestown are

1,210 jobs are based in Charlestown. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Charlestown’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Charlestown

1,210 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Charlestown residents hold

3,381 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+28%

Jobs based in Charlestown, 2013 → 2023: 946 → 1,210. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe 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 saysA 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 surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.