Best PlacesNorth Kingstown, RI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Kingstown, 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.
North Kingstown ranks 2,865th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in North Kingstown
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.
North Kingstown's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Kingstown ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Household income$124,574 median, better than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
Where North Kingstown ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,325 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Kingstown
A household needs to earn about $144,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Kingstown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $124,574, 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 North Kingstown's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 North Kingstown
North Kingstown 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 North Kingstown.
Who works in North Kingstown, and how
Work in North Kingstown centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in North Kingstown
North Kingstown has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of towns and more parkland per resident than 89% of towns. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of North Kingstown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Kingstown, month by month
North Kingstown sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 57° | 51° | 45° |
| July | 83° | 78° | 72° |
| October | 64° | 60° | 53° |
Flying in and out of North Kingstown
The nearest airport, Rhode Island Tf Green International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Kingstown
Schools across North Kingstown average a B+, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- George Hanaford SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Hamilton SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Stony Lane El. SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Davisville Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Wickford Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Archie R. Cole MsB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- North Kingstown Sr. HighA · 67% proficient
- East Greenwich HighA− · 65% proficient
- Westerly High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Kingstown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Kingstown 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 North Kingstown against the other 50,332 towns.
Who North Kingstown suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in North Kingstown
Is North Kingstown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Kingstown ranks 2,865th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, transit, and an educated workforce, 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 North Kingstown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $524,709. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $124,574 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is North Kingstown safe?
Yes, North Kingstown is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $129 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in North Kingstown?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 29. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 52% of towns.
Is North Kingstown good for families?
Schools beat 78% of towns, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $1,325 a month.
Compare North Kingstown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Kingstown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Kingstown 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.
North Kingstown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Kingstown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Kingstown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Kingstown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Kingstown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Kingstown 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.