Yes, but the salaries, amenities, and public transit pale in comparison. Providence is a very different type of city: medium, town and gown.

Work in a specialized in person field? Maybe one employer in the state or you commute an hour each way. Good luck if you want to switch jobs (but this problem doesn't exist in NYC or LA).

If my car gets totaled in yet another accident, I'm stuck navigating an inflated car market and inflated insurance just to get by (especially if you have that far away job).

I love it here and I relocated here a long time ago, but my friends in NYC, Boston, and LA have much higher salaries and career advancement is seamless.Providence feels like a choice you make over your career, at times. It used to be in part because it was an affordable place to settle down.

Providence is similar to a lot of small cities outside of the East Coast, but at 4x the cost. Many couples suffer the two body problem here, especially if both want to work locally and aren't in ed/law/medicine/academia.