Groundwork

Clothing and laundry · Metro area · Rhode Island

Dry cleaners in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area

How the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for dry cleaners: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 38 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #200 of 272 scored metro areas
The only scored metro area based in Rhode Island

Listings
119
29 chain locations (24%)
Official establishments
94
−13.0% since 2019
Household spending a year
$1.6B
On clothing, shoes and related services · $2,380 a household
Spending per listing
$13.5M
14% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
1.8
38% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
1,708,161
+2.1% since 2020

See the dry cleaners around any address in the Providence-Warwick metro area

The site report maps the dry cleaners on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Providence-Warwick metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

Household spending on clothing, shoes and related services in the Providence-Warwick metro area comes to about $1.6B a year: $2,380 per household, 16% above the U.S. average. Spread across 119 dry cleaners, that is $13.5M per shop, 14% below the U.S. figure of $15.7M. The spending figure covers all clothing, shoes and related services, not only dry cleaners.

The Providence-Warwick metro area has 119 dry cleaners on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 24% of them, against 23% across the U.S. That is 1.8 per 10,000 households, 38% above the U.S. rate of 1.3.

Official counts show 94 businesses with payroll classed as dry cleaning and laundry services in the Providence-Warwick metro area in 2023, down 13.0% from 2019. That is one for every 7,185 households, against one for every 8,177 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 1 SBA-backed loan worth $948K has gone to businesses classed as dry cleaning and laundry services in the Providence-Warwick metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the Providence-Warwick metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +2.1%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). For dry cleaners, the Providence-Warwick metro area has a Groundwork market score of 38 (lower middle): #200 of 272 scored metro areas and the only scored metro area based in Rhode Island.

How the Providence-Warwick metro area compares

The same measures for Rhode Island and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all clothing, shoes and related services by the dry cleaners counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Dry cleaners in Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area compared with Rhode Island and the U.S.
MeasureProvidence-Warwick metro areaRhode IslandU.S.
Listings per 10k households1.81.91.3
Spending per listing$13.5M$12.5M$15.7M
Households per official establishment7,1856,4948,177
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−13.0%−12.8%−18.7%
Population growth, 2020–2025+2.1%+1.6%+3.1%
Spending per household on clothing, shoes and related services$2,380$2,383$2,055
Median household income$87,040$87,796$80,734
Groundwork market score3830

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
94−13.0% over the period
Employees, 2023
470
Annual payroll, 2023
$14.4M
One-person businesses, 2023
Not publishedNot published for this business type
Map listings, September 2026
11929 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
103The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
1
Amount
$948K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as dry cleaning and laundry services in the Providence-Warwick metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.

Population and households in the Providence-Warwick metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
1,708,161+2.1% since 2020
Households
675,395
Median age
41.7
Homes lived in by their owners
63%
Vehicles per household
1.7
Land area
1,587 sq. mi.
People per square mile
1,061
Median household income
$87,040+28.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$113,866
Median home value
$422,500
Jobs located here
710,441
Daytime population
1,584,744Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Providence-Warwick metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the dry cleaners on map listings by name and distance.

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Other business types in the Providence-Warwick metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Funeral services

Questions

How many dry cleaners are in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 119 dry cleaners in the Providence-Warwick metro area. 29 of them (24%) are chain locations. The listings count dry cleaners. Official counts show 94 businesses with payroll classed as dry cleaning and laundry services in 2023, down 13.0% from 2019.

How much do households in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area spend on clothing, shoes and related services?

About $1.6B a year, or $2,380 per household. That is 16% above the U.S. average (an index of 116, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 119 dry cleaners on map listings, it comes to $13.5M per shop. That spending covers all clothing, shoes and related services, which dry cleaners share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 675,395 households in the Providence-Warwick metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area compare with the U.S. for dry cleaners?

The Providence-Warwick metro area has 1.8 dry cleaners per 10,000 households, 38% above the U.S. rate of 1.3. Spending per shop is $13.5M, 14% below the U.S. figure of $15.7M. At the U.S. ratio of dry cleaners to household spending, the Providence-Warwick metro area would have about 103, against 119 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 7,185 households, against one for every 8,177 across the U.S. The official count fell 13.0% from 2019 to 2023, against −18.7% for the U.S.

How fast is the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Providence-Warwick metro area at 1,708,161 people in 2025, up 2.1% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 675,395 households. Median household income in the Providence-Warwick metro area is $87,040, 8% above the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 28.3%, before inflation.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Providence-Warwick metro area scores 38 for dry cleaners (lower middle), #200 of 272 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Providence-Warwick metro area. It maps the dry cleaners on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for dry cleaners · All 56 business types in the Providence-Warwick metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Providence-Warwick metro area?

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This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.