Bristol is a medium-sized coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Rhode Island. With a population of 22,469 people and four constituent neighborhoods, Bristol is the 16th largest community in Rhode Island. Much of the housing stock in Bristol was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.

Bristol is neither predominently blue-collar or white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Bristol is a town of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Bristol who work in office and administrative support jobs (17.68%), sales jobs (9.15%), and management occupations (7.77%).

Also of interest is that Bristol has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Bristol is also a college town, where lots of students live while attending area colleges. Because of the high percentage of people living in Bristol enrolled in college, Bristol has a number of services, amenities and opportunities geared towards the needs and activities of students.

The town is also nautical, which means that parts of Bristol are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

Bristol Information and Demographics

The overall education level of Bristol citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 26.25% of adults in Bristol have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 14.96%.

The per capita income in Bristol in 2000 was $21,532, which is lower middle income relative to Rhode Island, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $86,128 for a family of four.

The people who call Bristol home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Bristol is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Bristol include Portuguese, Italian, Irish, English, French, German, French Canadian, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Bristol is English. Some people also speak Portuguese.