RI's overall population grew last year, but some places still lost people
Rhode Island gained a modest 2,120 people from 2022 to 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, but not all areas of the state shared in that growth, according to more detailed numbers the bureau released Thursday.
In fact, much larger gains in the densely populated, urbanized Providence County were offset by losses in three of the four remaining counties, while Kent County was virtually unchanged, posting a gain of only 144 people.
Newport County led the population losses, declining by 889 people.
Even Providence County, which also includes rural communities such as Foster, Glocester and Burrillville, in addition to five of the state’s eight cities, showed marked contrasts in the forces driving its gain of 3,191 people.
About a third of that gain – 1,004 people – was due to “natural increase,” the surplus of births over deaths. All four other counties experienced natural decrease, meaning more died in those counties than were born into them. The state overall had a natural decrease of 428, led by a decrease of 519 in Kent County and 469 in Washington County.
How much did foreign immigration affect Rhode Island's population?
The other two-thirds of the gains in Providence County were due to an increase of 2,187 in net migration into the county, but, even there, the numbers painted a varied picture.
Providence County gained a net of 4,985 new residents coming from foreign countries, while it lost 2,798 to other parts of the United States, including other counties in Rhode Island.
Newport County was the only Rhode Island county to lose population to total net migration, 671, but gained 147 from foreign countries, while losing 818 to other parts of the United States.
All five counties gained population from foreign countries, and besides Providence and Newport counties, only Washington County lost to other parts of the country, 91. Bristol and Kent counties gained from other parts of the United States, 164 and 319, respectively.
What is Rhode Island's population?
According to the latest estimate from the Census Bureau, the state's population as of July 1 was 1,095,962, down from the direct count of 1,097,371 in the 2020 Census, taken on April 1 of that year. But that's up from the 2022 estimate of 1,093,842.
From 2022 to 2023, besides losing 428 to natural decrease, the state as a whole gained 2,553 people from migration, which included 5,777 people arriving from foreign countries.
What is the population of RI's counties?
The 2023 estimated population of each of Rhode Island's five counties is:
Bristol County: 50,255
Kent County: 171,278
Newport County: 83,832
Providence County: 660,615
Washington County: 129,982
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: What's RI's population? Here are the forces driving growth.
