City · Bristol County, Massachusetts

Fall River, Massachusetts

Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, part of the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metro area. It has 94,082 residents. Fall River, Massachusetts has a quality-of-life score of 38 out of 100 (low), ranking #9,669 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Massachusetts it ranks #220 of 225 cities and towns. It ranks best on mammography screening (high), mental health providers (high) and firearm deaths (low). It ranks worst on high school diploma or higher (low), frequent mental distress (high) and child care cost burden (high).

38Low

Quality-of-life score: #9,669 of 15,651 cities and towns
Massachusetts: #220 of 225 in MA
Population: 94,082 (2020-2024)
Land area: 33 mi²
Density: 2,840.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 2523000

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety64#5,646/15,637
Economy9#14,241/15,631
Housing19#12,105/14,977
Health34#10,377/15,609
Healthcare71#4,490/15,650
Environment96#595/15,453
Education39#9,545/15,649
Infrastructure22#12,246/15,650
Community39#9,614/15,651
Leisure & amenities43#8,876/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Fall River, Massachusetts ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Bristol County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Mammography screening · high58.0%
97/100Massachusetts 54.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBristol County value
Mental health providers · high617 /100k
94/100Massachusetts 787 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBristol County value
Firearm deaths · low3.6 /100k
94/100Massachusetts 3.5 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBristol County value
Suicide rate · low8.4 /100k
91/100Massachusetts 8.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBristol County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low6.0 µg/m³
89/100Massachusetts 6.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyBristol County value
Natural hazard risk · low6.9
89/100Massachusetts 16.82025Federal Emergency Management AgencyBristol County value

Weaknesses

High school diploma or higher · low76.5%
2/100Massachusetts 91.4%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Frequent mental distress · high22.6%
3/100Massachusetts 17.5%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Child care cost burden · high41.5%
5/100Massachusetts 39.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBristol County value
Home price to income ratio · high7.0×
6/100Massachusetts 5.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Adult smoking · high21.6%
7/100Massachusetts 11.6%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Preventable hospital stays · high4,073 /100k
8/100Massachusetts 3,344 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBristol County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
89,388 (2015-2019) → 94,082 (2020-2024)
+5.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.2% (2015-2019) → 86.4% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$43,503 (2015-2019) → $56,673 (2020-2024)
+30%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Home price to income ratioWorsening
5.6× (2015-2019) → 7.0× (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
31.4% (2015-2019) → 26.6% (2020-2024)
−4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
48.1% (2015-2019) → 52.5% (2020-2024)
+4.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Fall River, Massachusetts improved on 4 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 3. 7 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved4

Broadband+16 points70.2% → 86.4%
Unemployment−1.9 points8.4% → 6.5%
Child poverty−4.8 points31.4% → 26.6%
Household income+30%$43,503 → $56,673

Declined3

Price / income+1.4×5.6× → 7.0×
Uninsured+1.7 points5.0% → 6.8%
Rent / income+2.1 points29.1% → 31.2%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Fall River, Massachusetts between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.9 min2015-2019	25.8 min2020-2024	+0.9 min	Within the margin of error	37%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.4%2015-2019	16.4%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Broadband subscriptions	70.2%2015-2019	86.4%2020-2024	+16 points	Improved	83%
Child poverty rate	31.4%2015-2019	26.6%2020-2024	−4.8 points	Improved	68%
Effective property tax rate	1.10%2015-2019	0.97%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Little change	42%
High school diploma or higher	74.6%2015-2019	76.5%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Home price to income ratio	5.6×2015-2019	7.0×2020-2024	+1.4×	Declined	11%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4632015-2019	0.4602020-2024	−0.003	Within the margin of error	53%
Median household income	$43,5032015-2019	$56,6732020-2024	+30%	Improved	56%
Poverty rate	19.7%2015-2019	19.6%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Public transit commuters	1.5%2015-2019	1.8%2020-2024	+0.4 points	Within the margin of error	98%
Rent as share of income	29.1%2015-2019	31.2%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Declined	39%
Rent-burdened households	48.1%2015-2019	52.5%2020-2024	+4.4 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Unemployment rate	8.4%2015-2019	6.5%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Improved	80%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.0%2015-2019	6.8%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Declined	28%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Fall River, Massachusetts five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fall River, Massachusetts in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Fall River, Massachusetts itself moved −1.7 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

94,082 residents (±120)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

41,991 households (±828)

Fall River, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Under $25k25%10,346
$25k–50k22%9,053
$50k–75k16%6,657

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

41,991 households (±828)

Fall River, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Own35%14,824
Rent65%27,167

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

43,658 workers (±1,253)

Fall River, Massachusetts
Massachusetts share

Drive alone71%30,953
Carpool15%6,582
Public transit1.8%804

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Bristol County, the county holding most of Fall River's residents.

Bristol County has 13,221 employer establishments, 226 for every 10,000 residents (0.91× the US rate of 248; 0.87× Massachusetts's), with 201,320 paid employees at an average annual pay of $59,037. The Census Bureau also counts 44,408 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 13,221; 44,408 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 226; US 248 · Massachusetts 260
Paid employees: 201,320
Average annual pay: $59,037; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Bristol County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	1,227	20.9	1.35×More than typical	9,156	$81,658	3,447
Restaurants and other eating places	1,109	18.9	1.03×About typical	19,765	$24,418	183
Ambulatory health care services	852	14.5	0.70×Fewer than typical	13,249	$77,276	1,909
Services to buildings and dwellings	529	9	1.34×More than typical	2,258	$61,501	2,041
Building equipment contractors	519	8.9	1.47×More than typical	4,036	$79,727	829
Construction of buildings	475	8.1	1.07×About typical	1,880	$78,413	1,428
Full-service restaurants	450	7.7	1.00×About typical	9,314	$27,856	68
Lessors of real estate	444	7.6	0.61×Fewer than typical	1,350	$52,222	4,312
Limited-service restaurants	428	7.3	0.91×About typical	7,123	$21,987	85
Automotive repair and maintenance	352	6	1.19×About typical	1,678	$53,066	483
Landscaping services	343	5.9	1.67×More than typical	1,065	$86,787	561
Personal care services	335	5.7	1.20×About typical	1,593	$27,877	2,205

Rank places for an industry Open Bristol County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 586,182 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $16M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Fall River, Massachusetts: $170 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $16M; +71% vs FY2025
Per resident: $170; US $1,994
Sole-source: 89%; US 30%
Single offer: 5.3%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Navy$14M88%
Defense Logistics Agency$1M6.5%
Federal Aviation Administration$764.7K4.8%
U.S. Geological Survey$63.1K0.4%
Departmental Offices$47.2K0.3%
Defense Information Systems Agency$41.6K0.3%
Department of Veterans Affairs$28.2K0.2%

Top recipients

INNOVATIVE DEFENSE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC$14M88%
FULCRUM ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC$764.7K4.8%
H & S TOOL AND ENGINEERING, INC.$716.5K4.5%
L3 TECHNOLOGIES INC$110.3K0.7%
ROBBINS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC.$102.3K0.6%

Spending by fiscal year

2.6MFY2017
2.9MFY2018
4.7MFY2019
7.2MFY2020
7.7MFY2021
7.1MFY2022
5.6MFY2023
12.1M

Top industries (NAICS)

Scientific research and development services · 5417$14M88%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$764.7K4.8%
Other fabricated metal product manufacturing · 3329$276.7K1.7%
Machine shops and screw, nut, and bolt manufacturing · 3327$251.3K1.6%
Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing · 3344$162.2K1.0%
Hardware manufacturing · 3325$123.6K

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Fall River, Massachusetts

ENGINEERING DESIGN DEVELOPMENT$20.6M
INNOVATIVE DEFENSE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC· Bristol County, MA· Weapons, aircraft, ships & vehicles· Jan 23, 2025 – Jun 3, 2026· N0002425C6113
THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BUILD AND UPGRADE PERSISTENT AUTONOMOUS UPLINK TO SUPPORT THE SUBMERGED ACOUSTIC NAVIGATION SYSTEM (SANS) CAPABILITIES IN SUPPORT OF CRITICAL UNDERSEA RANGES USED FOR TRAINING AND TEST AND EVALUATION OF PLATFORMS AND SYSTEMS$1.1M
MIKEL INC· Bristol County, MA· Professional services· Apr 25, 2025 – Apr 17, 2026· N6660425FK501
PCT LIGHTING$764.7K
FULCRUM ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC· Bristol County, MA· Construction & real property· Aug 20, 2026 – Aug 20, 2026· 697DCK26C00233

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Fall River, Massachusetts, so they do not add up across cities.

Fall River, Massachusetts's figures are part of those of Bristol County, MA ($103.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 15% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Fall River is mostly in Bristol County.

See federal money in Bristol County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Fall River, Massachusetts is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Elizabeth Warren

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Bristol County72100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Providence-Warwick, RI-MA80

Other cities and towns in Bristol County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/2523000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends