Cranston still R.I.’s 2nd-largest city

Cranston kept its lead over Warwick as the state’s second-most-populous city in 2018, according to numbers released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Cranston had passed Warwick as the state’s second-largest city in 2017, according to Census Bureau figures made public a year ago. From 2017 to 2018, Cranston added 240 people, while Warwick added 50, according to census estimates valid as of July 1 each year.

Overall, 23 Rhode Island communities saw growth from 2017 to 2018, while 16 declined. Those that shrank were east of Narragansett Bay and along the south coast, plus Providence, which lost 168 people, or 0.09% of its population.