Rhode Island’s recorded population grew from 68,825 people in the 1790 census to 1,097,379 in the 2020 census. The long record shows periods of rapid expansion, a small decline around 1980, and slower recent growth. Census QuickFacts also provides a current snapshot of the people, homes, land, and economic activity that shape the state’s living history.
Contents
- Population across the censuses
- The nineteenth-century transformation
- Twentieth-century growth and the 1980 dip
- Recent population estimates
- Rhode Island’s people
- Homes, work, and economic activity
Population across the censuses
The federal census provides a consistent series for following Rhode Island’s population over more than two centuries. The Census 2000 resident population PDF records 68,825 residents in 1790. By 1800, the count was 69,122, followed by 76,931 in 1810 and 83,059 in 1820. The state therefore began the nineteenth century with modest gains, adding 297 people between the first two census counts and then growing more noticeably in the next two decades.
The next four census counts show a stronger upward pattern. Rhode Island had 97,199 people in 1830, 108,830 in 1840, 147,545 in 1850, and 174,620 in 1860. The 1830 count was 14,140 higher than the 1820 count, while the 1850 count was 38,715 higher than the 1840 count. These are differences between census counts, not annual growth rates; the census years provide the measurement dates.
The population series can be read as a compact historical timeline:
| Census year | Rhode Island population |
|---|---|
| 1790 | 68,825 |
| 1800 | 69,122 |
| 1810 | 76,931 |
| 1820 | 83,059 |
| 1830 | 97,199 |
| 1840 | 108,830 |
| 1850 | 147,545 |
| 1860 | 174,620 |
| 1870 | 217,353 |
| 1880 | 276,531 |
| 1890 | 345,506 |
| 1900 | 428,556 |
All figures in this table are from the Census 2000 resident population PDF. Seen together, the counts move from a small colonial-era population to more than 400,000 residents by 1900. The series is especially useful for local-history readers because it places individual communities and institutions within a changing statewide population context.
The nineteenth-century transformation
Rhode Island had 217,353 people in 1870 and 276,531 in 1880, according to the Census 2000 resident population PDF. The 1890 count reached 345,506, and the 1900 count reached 428,556. Between 1860 and 1870, the recorded population increased from 174,620 to 217,353. Between 1870 and 1880, it increased again by 59,178. The 1880-to-1890 interval added 68,975 people, and the 1890-to-1900 interval added 83,050.
Those count differences describe the scale of change without assigning a cause that is not measured in the supplied figures. They also show why a single historical date can give an incomplete picture. Rhode Island’s population in the 1790 census was 68,825; the 1900 census count was more than six times that level. The comparison is between census enumerations at different points in time, not a statement about uninterrupted growth in every year.
The early twentieth-century counts continued upward. The state had 542,610 people in 1910 and 604,397 in 1920. In 1930, the count was 687,497. The Census 2000 resident population PDF records 713,346 people in 1940. By 1950, Rhode Island had 791,896 residents. These figures extend the long-run record from 1790 through the middle of the twentieth century and make the 1950 count the first supplied census total above 750,000.
Twentieth-century growth and the 1980 dip
Rhode Island’s 1960 census population was 859,488, and the 1970 census population was 949,723. The supplied Census 2000 resident population PDF records 947,154 people in 1980, a lower count than in 1970. The 1990 census then recorded 1,003,464 people, returning the state above one million. The 2000 census recorded 1,048,319 people.
| Census year | Population | Change from prior supplied census |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 713,346 | — |
| 1950 | 791,896 | +78,550 |
| 1960 | 859,488 | +67,592 |
| 1970 | 949,723 | +90,235 |
| 1980 | 947,154 | -2,569 |
| 1990 | 1,003,464 | +56,310 |
| 2000 | 1,048,319 | +44,855 |
The arithmetic in this comparison is a direct difference between adjacent supplied census counts. It does not identify the reasons for the changes. The important historical feature is the contrast between the small decline from 1970 to 1980 and the subsequent return to growth by 1990. The 2000 count was above one million, extending the upward movement recorded after 1980.
The 2010 census counted 1,052,567 people, while the 2020 census counted 1,097,379. Both figures are identified in Census QuickFacts. The 2010-to-2020 increase was 44,812 residents, placing the latest completed census decade among the periods of positive growth in the supplied record.
Recent population estimates
Census QuickFacts distinguishes census counts from estimates. Its population estimate for July 1, 2024 was 1,112,308, while its estimate for July 1, 2025 was 1,114,521. These are estimates for specific dates, not decennial census enumerations. The 2020-2024 population estimate change was 1.4%, and the 2020-2025 population estimate change was 1.6%, both according to Census QuickFacts.
| Measure | Figure | Measurement period or date |
|---|---|---|
| Census population | 1,097,379 | 2020 census |
| Population estimate | 1,112,308 | July 1, 2024 |
| Population estimate | 1,114,521 | July 1, 2025 |
| Estimate change | 1.4% | 2020–2024 |
| Estimate change | 1.6% | 2020–2025 |
The recent figures show a state whose population is larger than its 2020 census count, while the stated estimate changes remain low single-digit percentages. Keeping the dates visible matters: a census is a count tied to a census year, whereas the two QuickFacts figures are estimates tied to July 1 dates. They should be read as related but different measurements.
Rhode Island’s land area is 1,033.89 square miles, according to Census QuickFacts. Population and land area describe different aspects of the state: the historical population series tracks the number of residents at successive measurement points, while the land-area figure describes the geographic extent used for context. No population-density calculation is included here because the supplied figures do not identify a matching density measure or require an unsupported derived statistic.
Rhode Island’s people
Census QuickFacts reports that 4.7% of Rhode Island’s population was under age 5 and 18.4% was under age 18. The population age 65 and over was 19.7%. These percentages use the QuickFacts demographic snapshot and should not be substituted for historical age distributions in earlier census years. They describe the state’s recent population structure rather than the age composition of Rhode Island in 1790, 1900, or any other earlier period.
The same source reports that 51.0% of the population was female. It also reports 45,406 veterans in 2020–2024 and 15.3% foreign-born persons in 2020–2024. The veteran figure is a count associated with that period, while the foreign-born figure is a percentage associated with the same period. Keeping the units separate prevents the two measures from being treated as directly interchangeable.
QuickFacts provides the following racial and ethnicity measures for Rhode Island:
- White alone: 81.6%.
- Black alone: 9.5%.
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 1.4%.
- Asian alone: 4.1%.
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 0.2%.
- Two or More Races: 3.2%.
- Hispanic or Latino: 18.8%.
- White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: 68.0%.
These categories come from Census QuickFacts and are presented as reported measures. “Hispanic or Latino” is an ethnicity measure, while the racial-category figures are reported separately; the values should not be added together as though they were one mutually exclusive list. The figures offer a recent demographic snapshot for understanding the communities that make up the state today, alongside the much longer census population timeline.
Homes, work, and economic activity
Census QuickFacts reports 488,030 housing units on July 1, 2024. The owner-occupied housing unit rate was 63.6%, and the median value of owner-occupied housing units was $404,200. The median selected monthly owner costs with a mortgage were $2,234. Each measure addresses a different part of housing: the first is a unit count, the second is a rate, the third is a median value, and the fourth is a median monthly cost.
The date attached to the housing-unit count is July 1, 2024. The supplied facts do not provide equivalent earlier housing-unit counts, so the figure is best used as a recent baseline rather than as a complete housing history. Likewise, the owner-occupancy rate and housing-value and cost medians are current-context measures, not measurements for the 1790–2000 census series.
In the labor and business measures, Census QuickFacts reports a civilian labor force share of 64.6%. It also reports 19,719 nonveteran-owned employer firms in 2023. The firm count is explicitly tied to 2023, while the labor-force share is supplied without a separate year in the stated QuickFacts facts. The distinction matters when using these figures alongside the dated population estimates.
Accommodation and food services sales totaled $4,436,525 thousand in 2022, according to Census QuickFacts. Expressed in the source’s own unit, that is $4,436,525 thousand; it is retained here without converting or adding any unsupported comparison. The 2022 sales figure, the 2023 employer-firm count, and the July 1, 2024 housing-unit count form a sequence of recent economic and household indicators, but they measure different things and should not be combined into one trend.
Together, these statistics connect Rhode Island’s local-history story to measurable changes in population, community composition, housing, work, and commerce. The census counts provide the long historical spine; the dated QuickFacts counts, percentages, estimates, and medians describe the state’s more recent context.