Best PlacesCentral Falls, RI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central Falls, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Central Falls ranks 41,131st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central Falls
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.
Central Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Central Falls ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
Where Central Falls ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Central Falls
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $50,136, 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 Central Falls' effective rate of 0.81%, 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 Central Falls
Central Falls runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Central Falls.
Who works in Central Falls, and how
Work in Central Falls centers on admin & support services and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Central Falls
Central Falls has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of towns and more parkland per resident than 80% of towns. The coast is about 35 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Central Falls and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central Falls, month by month
Central Falls sees roughly 72 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.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Central Falls
The nearest airport, Rhode Island Tf Green International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 38 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central Falls
Schools across Central Falls average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lonsdale ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Saylesville ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Henry J. Winters SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lincoln Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Blackstone Valley Prep Jr HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Joseph Jenks Middle SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Lincoln Senior High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- William E. Tolman HighD · 20% proficient
- Central Falls Sr HighF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central Falls 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 Central Falls against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Central Falls suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Central Falls
Is Central Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central Falls ranks 41,131st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and biking, and lowest on education levels and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $349,602. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $50,136 median income, cost of living beats 6% of towns.
Is Central Falls safe?
Central Falls is safer than 36% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $252 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Central Falls?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 21. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of towns.
Is Central Falls good for families?
Schools beat 1% of towns, crime safety beats 36%, and childcare runs $1,309 a month.
Compare Central Falls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central Falls 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.
Central Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central Falls 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.
- 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.