Work & commute · Cranston

Work & commute in Cranston, RI

Most working residents leave Cranston for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Providence (23%), Warwick (11%) and Johnston (4%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

6,500 of 39,736 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 33,236 Cranston residents head out of town to work, 6,500 work right here, and 27,802 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cranston.

33,236live here, work elsewhere

6,500live and work here

27,802work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cranston goes to work

Providence5 mi away

23%9,267

Cranston (in town)right here

16%6,500

Warwick5.7 mi away

11%4,554

Johnston4.4 mi away

4%1,652

North Kingstown13.8 mi away

4%1,445

East Providence6.8 mi away

3%1,283

Pawtucket9.3 mi away

3%1,097

Smithfield9.3 mi away

2%950

Lincoln10.2 mi away

2%945

Boston, MA45.8 mi away

2%698

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%11,345

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

How far

How far Cranston commutes

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

70%

19%

70%Under 10 mi

19%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

3%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cranston is balanced between jobs and homes

0.86jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cranston are

34,302 jobs are based in Cranston. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cranston’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cranston

34,302 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Cranston residents hold

39,736 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+4%

Jobs based in Cranston, 2013 → 2023: 33,031 → 34,302. 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.