Workers in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $33.31 in May 2025, compared to the nationwide average of $33.54, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Mark J. Maggi noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($68.79), computer and mathematical ($53.76), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($53.09). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($19.08), personal care and service ($20.75), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($21.30). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment shares in the Providence area included office and administrative support (10.6 percent), food preparation and serving related (10.4 percent), and sales and related (8.7 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.8 percent); legal (0.8 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.3 percent).

One occupational group—community and social service—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Providence had 17,590 jobs in community and social service, accounting for 2.5 percent of local area employment, compared to the 1.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $31.74, compared to the national wage of $30.49.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the community and social service group included substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors (3,850); child, family, and school social workers (3,520); and social and human service assistants (3,000). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors ($37.69) and healthcare social workers ($35.43). (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were religious activities and education directors ($22.83) and social and human service assistants ($24.28). (Detailed data for the community and social service occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0039300/2025.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Providence area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in many of the occupations within the community and social service group. For instance, mental health and substance abuse social workers were employed at 2.29 times the national rate in Providence, and child, family, and school social workers, at 1.95 times the U.S. average. Healthcare social workers had a location quotient of 1.11 in Providence, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, and the Massachusetts Department of Economic Research.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 530 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology is available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 66.2 percent based on establishments and 67.2 percent based on weighted sampled employment. Sample sizes and response rates by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area are available on the Additional OEWS data sets page.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bristol County, RI; Kent County, RI; Newport County, RI; Providence County, RI; Washington County, RI; and Bristol County, MA.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for community and social service occupations, Providence metropolitan area, May 2025

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Community and social service occupations	17,590	1.44	31.74	66,030
Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors	1,920	1.19	37.69	78,400
Marriage and family therapists	(5)	(5)	31.59	65,710
Rehabilitation counselors	900	2.07	27.58	57,360
Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors	3,850	1.70	30.86	64,180
Child, family, and school social workers	3,520	1.95	34.47	71,700
Healthcare social workers	960	1.11	35.43	73,690
Mental health and substance abuse social workers	1,400	2.29	34.41	71,570
Social workers, all other	110	0.37	50.50	105,030
Health education specialists	230	0.78	33.76	70,220
Social and human service assistants	3,000	1.49	24.28	50,500
Community health workers	650	2.30	26.99	56,140
Community and social service specialists, all other	290	0.59	31.20	64,900
Clergy	250	0.96	28.68	59,660
Directors, religious activities and education	120	1.21	22.83	47,480
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area, see https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0039300/2025. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a 'year-round, full-time' hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data. (5) Estimate not released.