The following villages are located in East Providence:[5] The city of East Providence is governed by an elected mayor and a five-member city council, with the mayor and counselors elected every four years.

The mayor is both the ceremonial leader of the city and the chief executive officer.

The current mayor of East Providence is Roberto DaSilva, who took office on January 9, 2019.

The city also has a probate court, which handles estates, name changes, guardianships and related matters.

Judges for both courts are appointed by the mayor with confirmation by the city council for a term of two years.

The 2020 United States census counted 47,139 people, 21,050 households, and 11,510 families in East Providence.

35.5% of households consisted of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The population has large immigrant communities from Portugal, the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde.

Approximately 24% of East Providence residents report Portuguese ancestry, followed by Irish at 18%, and Italian with 11%.

[17] East Providence has 13 public and five non-public schools: Bradley Hospital, the nation's first psychiatric facility exclusively for children, was founded in 1931.

It is a teaching hospital for the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.