Best Places02864, RI Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 02864, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

02864 ranks 3,839th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.

#3,839
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 02864

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 02864 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.

02864's strengths and weaknesses

Top 10%Health care access
Top 10%High incomes
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 02864 with other zip codes.

Where 02864 ranks high

  • Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
  • Household income$120,843 median, better than 90% of zip codes
  • Big-city accessBetter than 90% of zip codes
  • Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of zip codes
  • Low vacancyBetter than 87% of zip codes

Where 02864 ranks low

  • State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of zip codes
  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of zip codes
  • Cheap childcare$1,309 a month, better than only 15% of zip codes
  • QuietBetter than only 26% of zip codes
  • Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 02864

A household needs to earn about $122,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 02864 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $120,843; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.

Income to buy the median home
$122,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$2,852
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $445,867 home
Median rent
$1,459
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$2,273
Property tax$430
Homeowners insurance$149

Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 02864's effective rate of 1.16%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.

Renting versus buying

At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 02864

02864 runs older than the country.

Median age
44
older than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
20%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.6
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1822%
18 to 3417%
35 to 4920%
50 to 6422%
65 and older20%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 02864.


Who works in 02864, and how

Work in 02864 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.

Work from home
16%
about the national average
Unemployment
1.9%
below the national average
Job growth
−2.7%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Health care & social18%
Manufacturing13%
Retail trade13%
Education12%
Construction7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 81%
  • Work from home 16%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 3%

Life in 02864

02864 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of zip codes. The coast is about 42 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 02864 and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
565
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 156.9 per 10,000 residents, more than 92% of zip codes
Coffee shops
70
about 19.4 per 10,000 residents, more than 92% of zip codes
To the coast
42 min
drive to the nearest ocean beaches

What the weather is like in 02864, month by month

02864 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January40°30°21°
April60°48°37°
July85°73°63°
October66°54°44°

Flying in and out of 02864

The nearest airport, Rhode Island Tf Green International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 35 miles away.

Nearest airport
PVD
Rhode Island Tf Green International, about 16 miles
Airport size
Small hub
72nd-busiest in the US, 55 nonstop destinations
Average drive
23 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 02864

Schools across 02864 average a B, better than 71% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 02864 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


02864 measure by measure

Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 02864 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Who 02864 suits

Families

Schools beat 71% of zip codes and crime safety beats 83%.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

Health care access beats 92%.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in 02864

Is 02864 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 02864 ranks 3,839th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, high incomes, and big-city access, and lowest on state finances and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 02864 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $445,867. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $120,843 median income, cost of living beats 89% of zip codes.

Is 02864 safe?

Yes, 02864 is safer than 83% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $161 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in 02864?

July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 21. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of zip codes.

Is 02864 good for families?

Schools beat 71% of zip codes, crime safety beats 83%, and childcare runs $1,309 a month.


Compare 02864 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 02864. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 02864 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.

02864 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 02864: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 02864: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 02864: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 02864: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

02864 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.