Household broadband adoption
Providence city
How many households in Providence city, Rhode Island report an internet subscription. These are survey estimates of what households subscribe to, not a record of which providers offer service at a given address.
Households
71,497
± 1,225
With a broadband subscription
89.7%
64,100 households ± 1,223
With no internet access
7.9%
5,624 households ± 801
How this compares
| Providence city | 89.7% | |
|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | 91.7% ± 0.3 points | 2.1 points below |
| United States | 91.0% ± 0.1 points | 1.3 points below |
Ranks 17 of 25 places in this state with estimates solid enough to compare.
How to read these numbers
- Every figure is a survey estimate with a margin of error at the 90% confidence level. A difference smaller than the margin is not a real difference.
- “Broadband of any type” counts cable, fibre, DSL, satellite and cellular data plans together. It does not distinguish speed or technology.
- Households reporting no internet access may still have service available to them. Adoption and availability are different measurements.
- These estimates describe households, not people, and not individual addresses.
Provider reports for Providence city
Separately from the survey estimates on this page, internet providers file with the FCC which locations they report they could serve. That answers a different question: not how many households subscribe, but who reports they could serve an address. Reported availability is not a guarantee of service at a given address, and the two measures are not combined here.
Source
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates, table B28002, presence and types of internet subscriptions in household.
Census place 4459000 · retrieved 2026-10-07T01:46:19Z
Change since 2018
2018 estimate
75.9%
± 1.2 points
2024 estimate
89.7%
± 0.8 points
Difference
+13.8 points
Statistically significant: higher than in 2018
The two releases cover 2014–2018 and 2020–2024. They share no years, which is what makes them comparable at all. The margin on each rate is derived from the margins of both counts it came from, and the difference is tested at the same 90% confidence level the Census Bureau publishes those margins at.
Places of a similar size in Rhode Island
Each of these publishes an estimate solid enough to set beside this one. Margins of error overlap, so a small difference between two places is not a difference.
| Place | Households | With a subscription |
|---|---|---|
| Warwick city | 36,055 | 91.2% |
| Cranston city | 32,595 | 91.9% |
| Pawtucket city | 30,598 | 89.5% |
| East Providence city | 20,836 | 90.2% |
| Woonsocket city | 17,618 | 89.6% |
| Newport city | 11,049 | 91.3% |