Best PlacesBristol County, RI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bristol County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bristol County ranks 84th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bristol County
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.
The best areas in Bristol County
The parts of Bristol County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Barrington
More households have young kids, more adults hold degrees, and fewer homes sit empty.
Warren
Streets are more walkable, though incomes run lower.
Bristol
Fewer residents vote and schools score lower.
Scores across Bristol County run from about the 39th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Bristol County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bristol County ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$124,473 median, better than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of counties
Where Bristol County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,326 a month, better than only 5% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bristol County
A household needs to earn about $152,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bristol County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $124,473, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
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 Bristol County's effective rate of 1.18%, 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.
Who lives in Bristol County
Bristol County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bristol County.
Who works in Bristol County, and how
Work in Bristol County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Bristol County
Bristol County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of counties and more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. The coast is about 27 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bristol County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bristol County growing, and who is moving in?
Bristol County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Providence, RI metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bristol County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bristol County, month by month
Bristol County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Bristol County
The nearest airport, Rhode Island Tf Green International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 47 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bristol County
Schools across Bristol County average a B, better than 79% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rockwell SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Hampden Meadows SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Guiteras SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Barrington Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Kickemuit Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Matthew J Kuss MiddleC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Portsmouth High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Barrington High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Joseph Case HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bristol County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bristol County 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 Bristol County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bristol County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Bristol County
Is Bristol County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bristol County ranks 84th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on health care access, an educated workforce, and high incomes, and lowest on state finances and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bristol County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $552,819. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $124,473 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Bristol County safe?
Yes, Bristol County is safer than 96% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $155 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bristol County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 23. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Bristol County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Barrington, Warren, and Bristol. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Bristol County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bristol County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bristol County 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.
Bristol County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bristol County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bristol County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bristol County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bristol County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bristol County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.