Newport is a medium-sized coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Rhode Island. With a population of 26,475 people and eight constituent neighborhoods, Newport is the 13th largest community in Rhode Island. Newport has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

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

The armed forces are a huge part of the life in Newport, employing 7.28% of the workforce. While it is a military town, the civilian sector still plays an important role in the local economy, where the Accomodation and Healthcare industries employ 14.96% and 11.04% of the civilian workforce, respectively.

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

In addition, Newport is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates." Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness.' But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

The city is also nautical, which means that parts of Newport 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.

One of the benefits of Newport is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 17.67 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Newport is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. The bus helps to get a lot of people to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Newport area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

Newport Information and Demographics

The citizens of Newport are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 41.47% of adults in Newport have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Newport in 2000 was $25,441, which is upper middle income relative to Rhode Island, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $101,764 for a family of four.

Newport is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Newport home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Newport is White, followed by African-American. Important ancestries of people in Newport include Irish, Italian, English, German, Portuguese, French, Polish, and French Canadian.

The most common language spoken in Newport is English. Some people also speak Spanish.