Best suburbs of Providence

We scored all 16 towns and communities of 10,000+ people in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area on what most people weigh when they pick a suburb: what homes cost compared with local pay, household income, poverty, commute times, education, homeownership and how many families with kids live there. Valley Falls, Somerset and North Attleborough Town come out on top.

top 10 upper half lower half Providence. Dot size shows population.

The top 25

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
1	Valley Falls, RI	76	12,657	$375,200	4.0×	$92,901	23.3 min	4.1%	7
2	Somerset, MA	74	18,298	$418,800	3.7×	$112,677	31.3 min	4.9%	14
3	North Attleborough Town, MA	69	31,506	$482,200	4.3×	$112,665	32.4 min	4.7%	11
4	Westerly, RI	68	18,411	$448,800	4.7×	$95,207	22.9 min	5.7%	37
5	Warwick, RI	65	84,187	$354,600	4.0×	$88,708	24.6 min	7.6%	8
6	Cranston, RI	63	84,647	$378,300	4.2×	$90,206	24.3 min	10.2%	5
7	Attleboro, MA	60	47,447	$448,100	4.5×	$98,954	30.5 min	8.6%	10
8	East Providence, RI	52	48,249	$365,500	4.8×	$75,912	22.6 min	10.1%	3
9	Newport East, RI	51	11,069	$485,400	5.5×	$89,028	20.5 min	11.7%	22
10	Taunton, MA	45	62,522	$422,800	5.3×	$79,283	29.3 min	13.0%	18
11	Pawtucket, RI	42	77,065	$325,500	4.8×	$68,310	25.6 min	13.3%	4
12	Newport, RI	39	24,251	$746,900	8.7×	$86,313	18.9 min	16.5%	24
13	Woonsocket, RI	34	44,580	$311,000	5.1×	$61,059	29.3 min	18.7%	13
14	New Bedford, MA	25	101,834	$357,300	6.3×	$56,981	24.7 min	20.6%	27
15	Central Falls, RI	20	23,124	$352,100	7.1×	$49,285	27.4 min	24.6%	5
16	Fall River, MA	18	95,298	$395,500	7.0×	$56,673	25.8 min	19.6%	18

Most affordable homes

Somerset 3.7 years of income, $418,800
Valley Falls 4 years of income, $375,200
Warwick 4 years of income, $354,600
Cranston 4.2 years of income, $378,300
North Attleborough Town 4.3 years of income, $482,200

Most families with kids

Central Falls 39.4% of households
Taunton 32.9% of households
Woonsocket 32.1% of households
Pawtucket 32.0% of households
Valley Falls 31.9% of households

How the score works

For each measure we rank the 16 places from worst to best within this metro area, then combine the ranks with these weights: home value compared with household income (20%), household income (15%), poverty rate (15%), average commute (15%), share of adults with a bachelor's degree (10%), homeownership (10%), households with children (10%) and population growth since 2020 (5%). Unincorporated communities have no official growth estimate, so they get the middle value for that part. A score of 100 would mean first on every measure.

Everything comes from the Census Bureau: the American Community Survey 2020-2024 and the 2025 population estimates. We leave out crime and school ratings because comparable official data for every town does not exist; check local school district and police data for the places on your shortlist.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best suburbs of Providence?

On our data-only score, Valley Falls, Somerset and North Attleborough Town rank highest among 16 places of 10,000+ people in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area.

What is the most affordable suburb of Providence?

Somerset has the lowest ratio of median home value to household income (3.7 years), with a median home of $418,800.

Which Providence suburb has the shortest commute?

Newport, where the average commute is 18.9 minutes each way.

Back to the Providence city profile, or see the best suburbs of other big cities.

Places are incorporated cities, towns and villages plus census-designated places with 10,000 or more residents, assigned to the metro area by county (OMB 2023 delineations). Distances are straight lines from the center of Providence. The Census Bureau caps published medians at $250,000 for income and $2,000,000 for home values, shown with a plus sign.