Kent County, Rhode Island

Kent County is a county in Rhode Island, United States, about 13 miles south of downtown
Providence on the west shore of Narragansett Bay. It had a population of 170,363 at the 2020
census, an estimated 173,495 by 2025, and covers 188 square miles (490 km2) centred near
41°41′N 71°35′W.

East Greenwich is the county seat; its postal code is 02818. The county holds 1 city and 4
towns — Warwick, Coventry, East Greenwich, West Greenwich and West Warwick — and it
runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 44003.

Towns & Villages in Kent County

Kent County has six named places on record: its five municipalities (one city and four towns)
and one census-designated place. CDP stands for census designated place, an unincorporated
community the Census Bureau maps for statistical purposes; Rhode Island towns hold no separate
incorporated villages beneath them, so every other named locality in the county is an informal
neighborhood, not a distinct governmental or Census unit.

Greene sits entirely inside Coventry’s southwest corner, a former Hartford, Providence and
Fishkill Railroad depot village that keeps its own ZIP code and Census designation despite having
no government of its own. Warwick’s named neighborhoods — Apponaug, Buttonwoods,
Cowesett, Governor Francis Farms, Greenwood, Hillsgrove, Lakewood, Oakland Beach, Pontiac,
Potowomut and Warwick Neck among some 34 in all — and West Warwick’s mill villages of
Arctic, Centerville, Crompton, Lippitt, Natick, Phenix and River Point are historic mill and
shore communities, not Census-tracked places, so no reliable separate population or ZIP figure
exists for any of them.

ZIP Codes

• 02886–02889 — Warwick (four ZIPs cover the city’s east, west, north and PO
  box ranges)
• 02816 — Coventry
• 02818 — East Greenwich
• 02817 — West Greenwich
• 02893 — West Warwick
• 02827 — Greene

None of Warwick’s or West Warwick’s historic mill villages — Apponaug,
Natick, Phenix, Crompton and the rest — carry a ZIP of their own; mail there is delivered
under the parent town’s code.

Geography

Kent County sits in Rhode Island’s central lowland, a belt of gently rolling terrain
between the Narragansett Bay shoreline and the hillier Appalachian upland to the west. Of its 188
square miles, 169 are land and 20 are water, about 11 percent — high for an inland county,
driven by Warwick’s long shoreline on Narragansett Bay and Greenwich Bay. The Pawtuxet River
crosses the county west to east through Coventry, West Warwick and Warwick before reaching the
bay, and its mill-town villages grew up along the river’s falls. The Flat River Reservoir,
known locally as Johnson’s Pond, in Coventry is the county’s largest inland body of
water.

Providence County lies to the north, Washington County to the south, Narragansett Bay and
Newport County to the east, and Connecticut to the west. Providence County, Washington County and Newport County all border Kent County
directly.

Demographics

Kent County had a population of 170,363 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 173,495 residents. Warwick and Coventry are by far the two largest communities,
together holding more than two-thirds of the county’s population. Median household income
varies sharply by town: East Greenwich’s $149,577 is the highest of any municipality in
Rhode Island, while West Warwick’s $73,903 sits below the statewide figure of $84,972
(2023 ACS). Countywide, median household income runs $94,345, above the state figure. Population
density works out to roughly 1,008 people per square mile of land, among the densest counties in
Rhode Island, reflecting Warwick and West Warwick’s built-up, largely suburban footprint.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 14,388 people,
followed by retail trade at 13,176 and manufacturing at 10,343. Kent Hospital in Warwick and the
New England Institute of Technology’s main campus in East Greenwich are among the
county’s largest employers outside retail. Warwick is also home to Rhode Island T. F. Green
International Airport, a Citizens Bank call center, UPS and Leviton Manufacturing operations, and
the Community College of Rhode Island’s Warwick campus. West Warwick’s Pawtuxet River
mill villages, including the Lippitt Mill, trace back to some of the earliest textile mills in the
country. The county’s biggest annual event is Warwick’s Gaspee Days each June, a
weeks-long commemoration of the 1772 burning of the British schooner Gaspee.

History

The Rhode Island General Assembly formed Kent County in 1750, carving it from the southern
third of Providence County and naming it after Kent, England. East Greenwich, chartered in 1677,
became the county seat and served as one of Rhode Island’s five rotating state capitals
until 1854. Like every Rhode Island county, Kent County has had no county government since 1846;
its towns and city run their own affairs, and the county today exists only as a court-and-records
boundary.

In June 1772, Warwick colonists rowed out into Narragansett Bay and burned the grounded
British revenue schooner Gaspee, an act widely cited as the first armed rebellion against British
rule, more than a year before the Boston Tea Party. More than a century later, the Pawtuxet River
valley towns of West Warwick and Coventry built their economy on textile milling, drawing French
Canadian and Irish immigrant labor through the early 1900s; West Warwick split off from Warwick in
1913 as the industrial, Democratic-leaning half of the old town. In February 2003, a fire at The
Station nightclub in West Warwick killed 100 people during a concert, one of the deadliest
nightclub fires in US history; the site is now a permanent memorial.

Getting There

Interstate 95 crosses the county’s northwest corner through Warwick, and Interstate 295
runs along the county’s northern edge. US 1 and US 1A, along with state routes 2, 3, 4, 5,
102 and 117, connect the county’s towns.

• Providence — about 13 miles north
• Cranston — about 6 miles north
• North Kingstown — about 8 miles south
• Newport — about 20 miles southeast, across Narragansett Bay

Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport sits inside the county in Warwick, making Kent
County one of the few in New England with its own major commercial airport. Amtrak’s
Northeast Corridor stops directly at the airport’s Wickford Junction-adjacent T. F. Green
Airport Station, with service to Providence, Boston and New York.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Kent County located?
It sits in central Rhode Island on the west shore of Narragansett Bay, about 13 miles south of
Providence, bordered by Providence, Washington and Newport counties and Connecticut.

What is the population of Kent County?
170,363 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 173,495, making it Rhode Island’s
second-most populous county.

How big is Kent County?
188 square miles (490 km2), of which 169 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Kent County?
East Greenwich, chartered in 1677, is the county seat, though Rhode Island counties have had no
county government since 1846.

How many towns and cities are in Kent County?
Five municipalities — the city of Warwick and the towns of Coventry, East Greenwich, West
Greenwich and West Warwick — plus the census-designated place of Greene inside Coventry.

What ZIP codes does Kent County use?
02886–02889 for Warwick, 02816 for Coventry, 02818 for East Greenwich, 02817 for West
Greenwich, 02893 for West Warwick and 02827 for Greene.

What is Kent County known for?
The 1772 Gaspee Affair in Warwick, Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport, and the
Pawtuxet River mill villages of West Warwick and Coventry.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Rhode Island.