Best PlacesWest Kingston, RI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Kingston, 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.
West Kingston ranks 3,485th 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 West Kingston
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.
West Kingston's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Kingston ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$133,246 median, better than 95% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of towns
Where West Kingston ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,325 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of towns
- Short commute32.5 minutes each way, better than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Kingston
A household needs to earn about $135,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Kingston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $133,246; 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 West Kingston's effective rate of 0.98%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Kingston
West Kingston runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Kingston.
Who works in West Kingston, and how
Work in West Kingston centers on manufacturing 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 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in West Kingston
West Kingston has more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. The coast is about 22 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of West Kingston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West Kingston, month by month
West Kingston sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 56° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 82° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of West Kingston
The nearest airport, Westerly State, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Kingston
Schools across West Kingston average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Curtis Corner Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Chariho Regional Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Exeter-west Greenwich Reg. Jr.C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Chariho High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- South Kingstown HighB+ · 55% proficient
- Exeter-west Greenwich RegionalC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Kingston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Kingston 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 West Kingston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Kingston
Is West Kingston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Kingston ranks 3,485th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, heat safety, and population health, 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 West Kingston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $504,229. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $133,246 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is West Kingston safe?
Yes, West Kingston is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $149 per resident a year.
Compare West Kingston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Kingston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Kingston 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.
West Kingston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Kingston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Kingston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Kingston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Kingston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Kingston 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.