Bristol County, Rhode Island Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Bristol County, Rhode Island, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Bristol County, Rhode Island. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Bristol County, Rhode Island. The estimated population of Bristol County, Rhode Island is 50,672 people, with a median age of 44.4.

We can look at the total population in Bristol County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
50,672
+4.17%
+3.35%
2020
48,645
 -0.24% -
2019
48,764
 -0.28% -
2018
48,900
 -0.26% -
2017
49,028
 - -

Population of Bristol County, Rhode Island by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
90.6%
92.7%
 -2.27%
Black/African American
1%
1.3%
 -23.08%
Native
0.1%
0%
 0.00%
Hispanic
3.3%
2.7%
 +22.22%
Asian
2.4%
2%
 +20.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
2.4%
1.2%
 +100.00%
Other
0.1%
0%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Bristol County, Rhode Island by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 44.4 -0.22% 43 +1.18% 45.2 -1.74%
2020 44.5 +0.45% 42.5 +1.92% 46 -0.43%
2019 44.3 +0.23% 41.7 -0.71% 46.2 +0.22%
2018 44.2 +0.23% 42 0% 46.1 0%
2017 44.1 - 42 - 46.1 -

The median age of Bristol County, Rhode Island gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 2,334 -6.72% 2,284 -2.77% 2,171 2,212
10 to 19 3,486 +9.67% 3,391 +19.43% 3,799 4,098
20 to 29 3,233 -9.14% 2,852 -14.6% 2,931 2,449
30 to 39 2,279 +10.74% 2,485 +9.14% 2,526 2,716
40 to 49 2,902 +3.37% 3,182 -0.72% 2,975 3,148
50 to 59 3,820 +1.86% 4,383 -4.33% 3,886 4,196
60 to 69 2,817 +14.12% 3,033 +8.85% 3,222 3,303
70+ 2,754 +11.12% 3,793 +4.75% 3,064 3,976

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Bristol County, Rhode Island is $95,102.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Bristol County.

  • Under 25
    $0.00
  • 25 to 44
    $109,471.00
  • 45 to 64
    $109,265.00
  • 65 and over
    $66,504.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Bristol County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Bristol County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Bristol County, Rhode Island is currently $132,141.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

17.31% of households in Bristol County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Bristol County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    13.23%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    12.85%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    14.08%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    12.16%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    19.89%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    10.49%
  • $200,000 or more
    17.31%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Bristol County is $51,917.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Bristol County by the total population of Bristol County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Bristol County, Rhode Island, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Bristol County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    22.07%
  • Bachelor's degree
    38.46%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    8.47%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    27.99%
  • Less than high school diploma
    3.01%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Bristol County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Bristol County over the age of 16 is 42,472.

Of those people, a total of 63.40% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Bristol County is 60.50%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 4,080 38.90% 3.30%
20 to 24 years 2,695 54.80% 7.50%
25 to 29 years 2,685 71.60% 11.10%
30 to 34 years 2,538 86.10% 4.50%
35 to 44 years 5,608 89.20% 2.70%
45 to 54 years 6,934 86.60% 4.10%
55 to 59 years 4,367 87.90% 2.80%
60 to 64 years 3,560 70.30% 3.00%
65 to 74 years 5,595 34.70% 4.30%
75 years and over 4,410 10.30% 3.10%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Bristol County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 39,754 63.30% 3.90%
Black or African American 533 76.20% 10.10%
American Indian and Alaska Native 22 77.30% 0.00%
Asian 929 54.10% 12.50%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.00% 0.00%
Other 332 66.00% 30.60%
Two or more races 902 64.60% 0.00%
Hispanic or Latino 1,211 66.60% 15.20%
Not Hispanic or Latino 39,095 63.30% 3.70%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Bristol County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Bristol County is 25,713, with median earnings of $53,504.00.

Women in Bristol County, Rhode Island earning approximately 68.70% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 25,713 $53,504.00
Male 13,073 $64,221.00
Female 12,640 $44,129.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 3,762 $100,529.00
Business and Financial 1,670 $74,750.00
Computer and Mathematical 724 $94,643.00
Architecture and Engineering 535 $73,491.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 524 $80,056.00
Community and Social Service 531 $52,784.00
Legal 408 $92,656.00
Educational and Library 2,370 $67,872.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 551 $76,861.00
Healthcare Practitioners 1,901 $101,074.00
Healthcare Support 681 $26,563.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 424 $2,499.00
Law Enforcement 151 $91,641.00
Food Preparation and Serving 1,359 $16,103.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 1,106 $30,095.00
Personal Care and Service 910 $10,863.00
Sales 2,398 $41,144.00
Office and Administrative Support 2,379 $38,570.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 52 $18,750.00
Construction and Extraction 933 $58,487.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 627 $50,767.00
Production 966 $43,684.00
Transportation and Material Moving 506 $25,197.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 2,220 $123,851.00 1,542 $69,444.00
Business and Financial 703 $95,822.00 967 $65,716.00
Computer and Mathematical 512 $92,500.00 212 $95,938.00
Architecture and Engineering 416 $90,000.00 119 $32,625.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 171 $98,528.00 353 $55,179.00
Community and Social Service 132 $39,500.00 399 $52,898.00
Legal 197 $100,156.00 211 $92,630.00
Educational and Library 949 $75,166.00 1,421 $65,521.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 315 $77,472.00 236 $53,690.00
Healthcare Practitioners 774 $250,001.00 1,127 $87,932.00
Healthcare Support 101 $40,781.00 580 $26,528.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 144 $31,250.00 280 $2,499.00
Law Enforcement 151 $91,641.00 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 607 $16,530.00 752 $14,541.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 835 $31,788.00 271 $13,854.00
Personal Care and Service 192 $10,333.00 718 $10,978.00
Sales 1,291 $41,458.00 1,107 $41,006.00
Office and Administrative Support 593 $34,420.00 1,786 $39,131.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 52 $18,750.00 0 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 881 $64,010.00 52 $12,321.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 553 $52,292.00 74 $29,500.00
Production 675 $52,747.00 291 $40,610.00
Transportation and Material Moving 425 $25,625.00 81 $21,146.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 19,273 households in Bristol County, with an average household size of 2.42 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 12,539 families in Bristol County with an average family size of 3.04 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 10,113 608 1,818 6,734
Average Household Size 3.17 2.94 2.78 1.15
Total Families 10,113 608 1,818 0
Average Household Size 3.15 2.66 2.59 0

Poverty

Of the 12,539 families in Bristol County, 3.80% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Bristol County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 21,404 housing units in Bristol County, Rhode Island.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 19,273 90.04%
Vacant 2,131 9.96%

23.09% of the total 21,404 housing units in Bristol County are rental units. This is approximately 4,942 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 13,958 are occupied by the owner - or 65.21% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Bristol County is $1,141.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Bristol County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    373
  • Less than $500
    534
  • $500 to $999
    1,268
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    2,075
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    551
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    274
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    160
  • $3,000 or more
    80

Property Value

The median value of a property in Bristol County is $379,000.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Bristol County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    140
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    24
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    148
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    534
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    2,915
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    6,500
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    2,962
  • $1,000,000 or more
    735

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Bristol County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Bristol County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    6,335
  • 1940 to 1949
    1,371
  • 1950 to 1959
    3,299
  • 1960 to 1969
    2,738
  • 1970 to 1979
    2,315
  • 1980 to 1989
    2,477
  • 1990 to 1999
    1,302
  • 2000 to 2009
    1,093
  • 2010 to 2013
    474
  • 2014 or later
    0

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Bristol County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    1,228
  • 1 vehicle available
    6,292
  • 2 vehicles available
    7,459
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    4,294

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Bristol County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Bristol County that commute to work in a particular way.

25.7 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Bristol County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    919
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    2,939
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    3,387
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    2,381
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    2,927
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    1,876
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    3,275
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    858
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    1,243
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    1,547
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    1,231
  • 90 or more minutes
    596

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Bristol County, Rhode Island in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Bristol County, Rhode Island

We have data for 4 places in Bristol County, Rhode Island. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.