Best PlacesRhode Island Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rhode Island, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rhode Island ranks 18th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 29 minutes away. Its strengths are walkability and health care access. The cost shows up in an overheated housing market, state finances, and the schools.
The best neighborhoods in Rhode Island
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 Rhode Island
The counties of Rhode Island, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Washington County
Tree cover is thicker, schools score higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Newport County
More homes sit empty and fewer households have young kids.
Kent County
More residents vote, though streets are more car-dependent.
Bristol County
It is quieter.
Providence County
Crime runs higher and health care is harder to reach.
Rhode Island shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Rhode Island's strengths and weaknesses
Rhode Island lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Walkability, health care access, and transit carry most of that.
The one real hole is an overheated housing market, near the bottom of the country. State finances and the schools also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Rhode Island to another than it does between Rhode Island and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Rhode Island ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of states
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of states
- TransitBetter than 87% of states
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of states
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of states
Where Rhode Island ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of states
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 3% of states
- School gradeC−, better than only 8% of states
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of states
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Rhode Island
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rhode Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $96,441, 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 Rhode Island's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 Rhode Island
Rhode Island's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rhode Island.
Who works in Rhode Island, and how
Work in Rhode Island centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Rhode Island
Rhode Island has more parkland per resident than 81% of states and less late-night activity than most states. Rhode Island has 40 miles of ocean coastline. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rhode Island and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rhode Island, month by month
Rhode Island sees roughly 74 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° |
The best schools in and around Rhode Island
Schools across Rhode Island average a C−, better than 8% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Kingston Hill AcademyA+ · 80% proficient
- Deans Mill SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Ashton SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Cumberland MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Jamestown School-lawnA · 65% proficient
- Barrington Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Portsmouth High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Seekonk HighA · 68% proficient
- North Kingstown Sr. HighA · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rhode Island school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island against the other 49 states.
Who Rhode Island suits
Families
Schools land around the 8th percentile and crime safety beats 81%.
Common questions about living in Rhode Island
Is Rhode Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rhode Island ranks 18th of 50 states. It scores highest on walkability, health care access, and transit, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rhode Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $440,375. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $96,441 median income, cost of living beats 41% of states.
Is Rhode Island safe?
Yes, Rhode Island is safer than 81% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $202 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rhode Island?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 23. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of states.
What are the best areas in Rhode Island?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Washington County, Newport County, and Kent County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Rhode Island good for families?
Schools beat 8% of states, crime safety beats 81%, and childcare runs $1,324 a month.
Is Rhode Island good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 41% of states, though advertised internet speeds beat only 9% of states. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Rhode Island with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rhode Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rhode Island 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.
Rhode Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rhode Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rhode Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rhode Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rhode Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rhode Island 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.
- 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.