A residential community is a community, usually a small town or city, that is composed mostly of residents, as opposed to commercial businesses and/or industrial facilities, all three of which are considered to be the three main types of occupants of the typical community.

Residential communities are typically communities that help support more commercial or industrial communities with consumers and workers. That phenomenon is probably because some people prefer not to live in an urban or industrial area, but rather a suburban or rural setting. For that reason, they are also called dormitory towns, bedroom communities, or commuter towns.

An example of residential community would include a small town or city outside a larger city or a large town located near a smaller but more commercially- or industrially-centered town or city, for instance Taitou in Gaocun, Wuqing, and Tianjin, China.