Kent County is included in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn constitutes a portion of the greater Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area.

[7] As of the census[13] of 2000, there were 167,090 people, 67,320 households, and 44,969 families living in the county.

27.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 166,158 people, 68,645 households, and 43,747 families living in the county.

[14] The largest ancestry groups were: 26.7% Irish 23.2% Italian 17.3% English 16.3% French 8.9% Portuguese 7.6% German 4.8% Polish 4.4% French Canadian 3.3% American 2.9% Swedish 2.4% Scottish 1.7% Scotch-Irish 1.4% Russian [16] Of the 68,645 households, 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.1% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.3% were non-families, and 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals.

[17] Kent County, like most of Rhode Island, has been strongly Democratic for the last half century.

In 2016, Donald Trump became the first Republican to win the county since Ronald Reagan in 1984, although Joe Biden was able to bring it back over to the Democratic side four years later in 2020.

Kamala Harris retained the county in 2024 for the Democrats, though the margin narrowed by over five points.