The Richest Places In Rhode Island
Rhode Island is known for The Breakers, a famous mansion owned by the Vanderbilt family during the Gilded Age. While Rhode Island, like its neighbor Connecticut, has seen a drop in population and wealth in recent years, there are still some wealthy areas.
Recently, we looked at the richest cities in New Hampshire and Connecticut. Now, we’re focusing on Rhode Island. This study looked at 36 cities in the state using Census data, including median household income, average household income, median home values, and yearly property taxes, to create a list of the 50 wealthiest cities in Rhode Island.
Keep reading to discover the richest city in Rhode Island and the top 15 wealthiest cities overall.
What Are the Richest Cities in Rhode Island?
To create this list of the richest cities in Rhode Island, we used important financial data from the Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey. Using this data, we built a scoring system based on four key factors to identify the wealthiest cities in the state:
- Median household income
- Mean (average) household income
- Median home value
- Median property taxes paid
It’s important to know that the Census Bureau has some limits on its data. For certain factors, they don’t give exact numbers above a certain point. For example, the highest category for median household income is “$250,000+,” for median home value it’s “$2,000,000+,” and for median property taxes paid it’s “$10,000+.” Because of these limits, the mean (or average) household income is especially important since the Census Bureau provides exact numbers for it. All four of these factors were scored, totaled, and then the cities were ranked based on their combined scores.
Another important point about the Census, especially for Rhode Island, is the use of Census-designated places (CDPs). The Census treats CDPs like cities, referring to them as “places,” and this list of the richest cities in Rhode Island does the same. However, if you notice some names that seem more like neighborhoods rather than cities, you’re not mistaken — the Census Bureau simply treats them as cities.
You’ll find a table detailing the top 15 richest cities in Rhode Island and their respective dollar figures for each metric, below:
15 Richest Cities in Rhode Island
List of the top 50 richest cities in Rhode Island based on a combination of four factors, including median household income, mean household income, median home value, and median property taxes paid.
| S.No. | City | Total Households | Median Household Income | Mean Household Income | Median Home Value | Median Property Taxes Paid |
| 1 | Charlestown | 849 | $109,563 | $165,663 | $496,200 | $4,240 |
| 2 | Cumberland Hill | 3,350 | $120,365 | $123,017 | $342,900 | $4,150 |
| 3 | Greene | 330 | $96,176 | $114,459 | $332,500 | $5,935 |
| 4 | Greenville | 4 | $92,367 | $117,110 | $376,000 | $4,781 |
| 5 | Harmony | 474 | $103,430 | $135,026 | $339,900 | $5,909 |
| 6 | Hope Valley | 705 | $93,888 | $113,350 | $429,200 | $6,134 |
| 7 | Kingston | 592 | $108,056 | $106,840 | $458,600 | $4,730 |
| 8 | Melville | 564 | $128,750 | $123,763 | $640,874 | $4,500 |
| 9 | Misquamicut | 217 | $113,438 | $187,481 | $801,900 | $7,038 |
| 10 | Newport | 10,645 | $81,330 | $123,261 | $622,800 | $5,180 |
| 11 | Newport East | 5,131 | $90,659 | $109,310 | $444,300 | $5,728 |
| 12 | Quonochontaug | 237 | $114,010 | $195,239 | $1,029,800 | $6,860 |
| 13 | Wakefield-Peace Dale | 4,316 | $99,254 | $114,655 | $436,600 | $4,738 |
| 14 | Watch Hill | 117 | $133,542 | $382,740 | $2,000,000+ | $10,000+ |
| 15 | Weekapaug | 218 | $110,000 | $181,271 | $678,200 | $4,824 |
The richest city in Rhode Island, according to this ranking, is Watch Hill, a Census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Westerly. It’s a small area in the far southwestern corner of the state, near the Connecticut border and close to Fishers Island, New York. Watch Hill has the highest scores in all categories: the median household income is $133,542, and the average household income is more than twice that, at $382,740. The median home value is over $2 million, and property taxes are over $10,000 a year. Retail Trade is the largest industry here, employing one-third of the workforce, followed by Finance & Insurance at 29.7%. Management jobs make up 30.7% of the occupations.
The second richest city is Quonochontaug, a village in Washington County made up of three small beach communities within Charlestown. Like Watch Hill, it’s in the southeastern part of Rhode Island. Health Care & Social Assistance (38.5%), Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (18.2%), and Finance & Insurance (14.6%) are the main industries here. The median household income is $114,010, and the average is much higher at $195,239. The median home value is $1.03 million, and property taxes are $6,860 per household.
Misquamicut, also a CDP in Westerly and Watch Hill’s neighbor to the east, ranks as the third richest city. The median household income here is $114,010, just a bit less than Quonochontaug’s, and the average income is $187,481. The median home value is $801,900, and property taxes are slightly higher than in Quonochontaug, at $7,038 per household.
The Bottom Line on the Richest Cities in Rhode Island
Newport, famously known as the home of Lois Griffin’s parents, the Pewterschmidts, is still one of the top 15 richest cities in Rhode Island, though it’s not as wealthy as it once was. It’s actually the largest city by population on this list of the richest cities. Newport East, with over 5,000 households, is the second largest. Many of Rhode Island’s wealthiest cities are found in the southeastern part of the state, including Aquidneck Island, where both the No. 4 richest city, Melville, and Newport are located.
Published: 17th September 2024
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