Bristol County, Rhode Island

Bristol County population, land area and income

Bristol County had 50,145 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 24.1 square miles of land. It ranks 5th of 5 in Rhode Island by population and 5th by land area. That works out to 2,078.1 people per square mile, 21.6 times the US average of 96.3, and in the top tenth nationally.

The median county-equivalent in Rhode Island has 130,333 residents, so Bristol County has 38% of the typical county's population.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $99,802 is in the top tenth among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How Bristol County's population changed since 2020

Bristol County lost 638 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a drop of 1.3%. That ranks 4th of 5 in Rhode Island for growth. The median Rhode Island county changed by +0.4%, and the state as a whole by +1.4%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, Bristol County recorded 1,455 births and 2,372 deaths, a natural change of -917. Net international migration added +99 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +147. The largest single component was natural change, which removed 917 people.

Where Bristol County is

The Census internal point of Bristol County is at 41.706800, -71.286700. It sits in UTM zone 19N. The map shades Rhode Island's 5 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with Bristol County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in Bristol County

No incorporated place of 1,000 or more people has residents in Bristol County. Its 50,145 residents live in smaller towns, census-designated places, or unincorporated land, which the subcounty estimates do not list at this size.

Counties bordering Bristol County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 4 neighbors for Bristol County, including 1 across a state line. The most populous is Providence County, RI, with 675,912 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Providence County

  675,912 people

  19 mi NW

• MA

  Bristol County, MA

  588,593 people

  11 mi ENE

• Kent County

  172,450 people

  15 mi W

• Newport County

  83,468 people

  14 mi S

Distance to Providence and the nearest big city

Providence is 10.8 miles NW of Bristol County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Providence, RI (population 194,706), 10.5 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Warwick, RI (population 83,554), 6.9 miles away.

Bristol County FIPS code

The FIPS code of Bristol County is 44001: state code 44 for Rhode Island plus county code 001. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $99,802.