Providence Counts assembles facts and figures from a variety of sources to illustrate different aspects of the city.  This week we’re focusing on the geography of incarceration.  More people from Providence are in jail than any other community in the state.  High incarceration rates are related to many community problems, i.e. education, health, poverty, employment, etc. and disproportionately affect communities of color and impoverished neighborhoods.

 

162       Number/100,000 population incarcerated state-wide, on average

354       Number/100,000 population incarcerated, coming from Providence

38%      Percentage of incarcerated population that come from Providence

17%      Percentage of total state population that is Providence

29%      Percentage of incarcerated population that is Black

24%      Percentage of incarcerated population that is Latino

22%      Percentage of poverty rate in Providence

11%      Percentage of poverty rate, state-wide

Number of people in prison in 2020 from each Providence neighborhood

Providence neighborhoods	Number of people incarcerated from each Providence neighborhood, 2020	Census population, 2020	Total population, 2020	Incarceration rate 100,000
Blackstone	3	6,923	6,926	43
Charles	39	7,773	7,812	499
College Hill	4	11,388	11,392	35
Downtown	5	5,112	5,117	98
Elmhurst	22	12,175	12,197	180
Elmwood	51	11,685	11,736	435
Federal Hill	19	7,436	7,455	255
Fox Point	6	5,116	5,122	117
Hartford	27	7,910	7,937	340
Hope	5	3,519	3,524	142
Lower South Providence	33	6,814	6,847	482
Manton	18	4,797	4,815	374
Mount Hope	13	5,327	5,340	243
Mount Pleasant	45	11,148	11,193	402
Olneyville	40	7,514	7,554	530
Reservoir	7	3,437	3,444	203
Silver Lake	50	13,622	13,672	366
Smith Hill	40	7,308	7,348	544
South Elmwood	8	2,587	2,595	308
Upper South Providence	52	4,996	5,048	1,030
Valley	22	5,648	5,670	388
Wanskuck	62	12,897	12,959	478
Washington Park	32	8,776	8,808	363
Wayland	0	4,000	4,000	0
West End	83	17,283	17,366	478

 

This data is excerpted from the Prison Policy Initiative, the Redistricting Data Hub, Common Cause RI, and the American Civil Liberties Union of RI, October, 2023.  Data is available for all Rhode Island cities and towns.