Best PlacesJohnston, RI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Johnston, 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.
Johnston ranks 1,214th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Johnston
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.
Johnston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Johnston ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 81% of cities
- TransitBetter than 73% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 71% of cities
Where Johnston ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 20% of cities
- School gradeC, better than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Johnston
A household needs to earn about $100,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Johnston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $98,607; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Johnston's effective rate of 1.31%, 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 Johnston
Johnston runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Johnston.
Who works in Johnston, and how
Work in Johnston centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Johnston
Johnston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. The coast is about 34 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Johnston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Johnston, month by month
Johnston sees roughly 71 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 Johnston
The nearest airport, Rhode Island Tf Green International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 45 miles away.
The best schools in and around Johnston
Schools across Johnston average a C, better than 22% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Brown Avenue SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Sarah Dyer Barnes SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Winsor Hill SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Vincent J. Gallagher MiddleB− · 40% proficient
- Western Hills Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Nicholas A. Ferri MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Smithfield High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Johnston Senior HighC− · 30% proficient
- Nel/cps Construction CareerF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Johnston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Johnston 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 Johnston against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Johnston suits
Families
Schools land around the 22nd percentile and crime safety beats 56%.
Common questions about living in Johnston
Is Johnston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Johnston ranks 1,214th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, clean air, and health care access, and lowest on state finances 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 Johnston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $357,676. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $98,607 median income, cost of living beats 56% of cities.
Is Johnston safe?
Yes, Johnston is safer than 56% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Johnston?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 21. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of cities.
Is Johnston good for families?
Schools beat 22% of cities, crime safety beats 56%, and childcare runs $1,309 a month.
Compare Johnston with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Johnston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Johnston 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.
Johnston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Johnston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Johnston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Johnston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Johnston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Johnston 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.