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Work & commute in Greenville · A commuter town

93% of Greenville’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Greenville for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Providence (19%), Smithfield (16%) and Warwick (6%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Work in town
7%
310 of 4,524 working residents
Typical commute
9 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
24 min
Less than RI (26 min)
Work from home
11%
Less than RI (13%)
Jobs based here
2,895
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Greenville?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

19% of working residents work in Providence

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

Woonsocket: 141 residents work here (3%)Pawtucket: 129 residents work here (3%)East Providence: 130 residents work here (3%)Providence: 861 residents work here (19%)Warwick: 274 residents work here (6%)Cranston: 262 residents work here (6%)North ProvidenceCumberland: 113 residents work here (2%)Johnston: 192 residents work here (4%)Smithfield: 736 residents work here (16%)GlocesterScituateLincoln: 180 residents work here (4%)GreenvilleProvidenceSmithfieldWarwickCranstonJohnstonLincolnGreenville
1
Providence7.9 mi away
19%861
2
Smithfield1.9 mi away
16%736
3
Warwick14 mi away
6%274
4
Cranston8.4 mi away
6%262
5
Johnston4 mi away
4%192
6
Lincoln5.8 mi away
4%180
7
Woonsocket8.8 mi away
3%141
8
East Providence11.4 mi away
3%130
9
Pawtucket9.2 mi away
3%129
10
Cumberland9.1 mi away
2%113
Everywhere elseother towns and states
33%1,506
The top trips

Where Greenville clocks in

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

Next door

20% of Greenville works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Smithfield (16%). Darker towns draw more of Greenville’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Johnston24 min
Greenville24 min
Smithfield25 min
Glocester34 min
Day and night

Greenville quiets down on a workday

On a workday 4,214 residents head out to work, 310 work right here, and 2,585 people come in from elsewhere.

4,214live here, work elsewhere
310live and work here
2,585work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night8,300
Workday6,700
8,300live here− 4,200head out to work+ 2,600come in to work= 6,700on a workday

About 6,700 people are in Greenville on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.64jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.64 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 Greenville commutes less than 9 miles

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

10 mi25 mi30 miProvidence: 19% · 7.9 miSmithfield: 16% · 1.9 miWarwick: 6% · 14 miCranston: 6% · 8.4 miJohnston: 4% · 4 miLincoln: 4% · 5.8 miWoonsocket: 3% · 8.8 miEast Providence: 3% · 11.4 miPawtucket: 3% · 9.2 miCumberland: 2% · 9.1 miProvidence 19%Smithfield 16%Warwick 6%Cranston 6%Johnston 4%Greenville
GreenvilleTop destinations (size = commuters)
61%Under 10 mi2,744 residents
25%10–24 mi1,120 residents
12%25–50 mi546 residents
2%Over 50 mi112 residents

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

The jobs

What the 2,895 jobs in Greenville are

2,895 jobs are based in Greenville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Greenville’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in GreenvilleJobs Greenville residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms16%14%
Trade, transport & utilities17%18%
Services: health, schools, offices67%69%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less22%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month30%20%
Over $3,333 a month47%67%

Who does it

29 or younger27%20%
30 to 5445%50%
55 and older28%30%
−1%

Jobs based in Greenville, 2013 → 2023: 2,937 → 2,895. 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.

Time on the road

About 24 minutes each way, about the RI average

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

A year of commuting
187 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Greenville24 min
Rhode Island26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
11%

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

About 1 in 10
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 Greenville

Greenville home →

Commuter talk

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

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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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