Rhode Island Housing Market: Home Prices, Rent and Affordability
The typical Rhode Island home is worth $511,233, up 3.4% over the past year and up 33.6% over five years, 38.7% above the national $368,697 (Zillow, latest release). That ranks #10 of 50 on price. A 20%-down mortgage runs $2,630 a month and takes about $139,686 of income; the median Rhode Island household earns $81,800, $57,886 short.
In Providence, the state's largest metro, typical rent is $2,167 a month against a $2,703 principal-and-interest payment on the typical home, so renting is $536 a month cheaper before taxes, insurance and maintenance. The market is warm: 21.2% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 28 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is up 2.1% from a year ago.
All figures are Zillow Research's published numbers for August; median household income is from the Census Bureau. How the data works → · Home prices in all 50 states →
Rhode Island Housing by the Numbers
How much does a house cost in Rhode Island? The typical home is worth $511,233, the median sale price is $492,167 and the median list price $549,933. The six figures below describe the market this month, each with the national comparison.
How Have Rhode Island Home Prices Changed?
The typical Rhode Island home value every month since 2000, with the national typical home as a dashed line. Values rose 3.4% over the past year, are up 33.6% over five years, up 101.3% over ten, and up 281% since January 2000.
Is It Cheaper to Rent or Buy in Rhode Island?
Two direct answers from the Zillow data. Rent versus buy sets typical asking rent in Providence, the state's largest metro, against the mortgage payment on the typical home there, since Zillow publishes rents by metro rather than by state. The affordability gap is the income needed to buy the typical Rhode Island home minus what the median household actually earns.
Rent vs. buy · Providence, RI
The payment excludes property tax (1.39% of value in Rhode Island), insurance and maintenance, all of which push the cost of owning higher; renting builds no equity. If values kept rising at the past five years' pace (33.6%), equity would narrow that gap over a long stay.
Affordability gap · #43 of 50
A $2,630 monthly payment takes 38.6% of the median Rhode Island household's income before property tax and insurance; lenders generally cap total housing costs near 28–31%. Full budget for your household →
Is Rhode Island a Buyer's or a Seller's Market?
Market temperature is our label from three Zillow signals compared with the national market: the share of listings with a price cut, days from listing to pending (days on market), and whether homes for sale are up from a year ago. Rhode Island is warm: it slightly favors sellers: one of the three market signals points cooler than the national market.
Median sale price $492,167 against a median list price of $549,933, so the typical home closes 10.5% below asking.
Where the Rhode Island market is heading
Compared with a year ago, the signals are mixed: the share of listings with a price cut is down 1.2 points from a year ago to 21.2%, homes take the same 28 days to go pending as a year ago, and the number of homes for sale is up 2.1%. The typical home value rose 3.4% over the same period and is at an all-time high. We publish no forecasts: these are Zillow's current-month readings, not a prediction of where Rhode Island home prices go next.
Home Values and Rents in Rhode Island Cities
Zillow publishes a city-level home value or rent for 10 of the Rhode Island cities we track. The most expensive is Newport ($965,074) and the cheapest Central Falls ($382,685). Click a city for its full profile.
| City | Population | Home value | 1 yr | 5 yr | Rent | Rent 1 yr | Value ÷ income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | 190,791 | $434,698 | +2.3% | ||||
| Warwick | 82,997 | $422,122 | +4.4% | ||||
| Cranston | 82,640 | $457,533 | +1.4% | ||||
| Pawtucket | 75,312 | $400,687 | +1.5% | ||||
| East Providence | 46,970 | $447,287 | +2.0% | ||||
| Woonsocket | 43,074 | $387,096 | +0.1% | ||||
| Newport | 25,029 | $965,074 | +8.5% | ||||
| Central Falls | 22,481 | $382,685 | +1.4% | ||||
| Westerly | 18,528 | $638,610 | +8.7% | ||||
| Tiverton | 8,151 | $556,840 | +2.6% |
Home value and rent are Zillow's city-level indexes; population and median household income are Census ACS. Cities without a Zillow index are omitted. All Rhode Island cities ranked →
How Rhode Island Compares With Nearby States
The Northeast states closest to Rhode Island on price. Each card links to that state's housing page; the compare link puts the two states side by side on every category.
More on Rhode Island
Rhode Island dashboard
→Overall rank and grade, every category score, taxes, utilities, safety, schools and all tracked cities.
What you'd keep in Rhode Island
→Take-home after housing, taxes, childcare, utilities and groceries for your household and income.
Who is moving to Rhode Island
→IRS migration data: where new residents come from, where leavers go, and what both groups earn.
Rhode Island Housing Market FAQ
What is the average house price in Rhode Island?
$511,233 is the typical Rhode Island home value according to the latest Zillow Research release of the Zillow Home Value Index, which tracks homes in the middle third of the market. The median sale price was $492,167 and the median list price $549,933. That makes Rhode Island the #10 most expensive state; the national typical home is worth $368,697.
Are home prices dropping in Rhode Island?
No. The typical Rhode Island home value rose 3.4% over the past year and is at an all-time high. Over five years it is up 33.6% and over ten years up 101.3%. Nationally, values rose 1.2% over the year.
How have Rhode Island home prices changed over the past 1, 5 and 10 years?
+3.4% over one year, +33.6% over five years and +101.3% over ten years for the typical Rhode Island home value, per the latest Zillow Research release; the national figures are +1.2%, +20.3% and +77.9%. Since January 2000 the typical Rhode Island home is up 281%. The monthly chart above shows the full series against the national line.
Will the Rhode Island housing market crash?
We publish no forecasts, so this page cannot answer that; it can show the current readings and the historical worst case. Right now the typical Rhode Island home value is at an all-time high after it rose 3.4% over the past year; 21.2% of listings have cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 28 days (national 53), and inventory is up 2.1% from a year ago, per Zillow Research. The largest decline in Zillow's monthly series for Rhode Island was 30.8% from June 2006 to October 2012, and values took 88 months to regain that peak.
Is it a good time to buy a house in Rhode Island?
The Rhode Island market is warm right now, which means it slightly favors sellers: one of the three market signals points cooler than the national market. 21.2% of listings cut their price (national 26.4%), homes go pending in 28 days (national 53), and for-sale inventory is up 2.1% from a year ago. Affordability is the constraint: buying the typical home takes $139,686 of income, $57,886 more than the median household earns. Whether the timing is right also depends on mortgage rates and how long you plan to stay.
Is Rhode Island a buyer's or seller's market?
Rhode Island leans toward sellers. Fewer listings are cutting prices than the national average (21.2% vs. 26.4%), homes take 28 days to go pending (national 53), and the number of homes for sale is up 2.1% from a year ago at 3K listings. One of those three signals points toward buyers.
What is the average rent in Rhode Island?
In Providence, Rhode Island's largest metro, the typical asking rent is $2,167 a month, up 4.3% over the past year and up 37.5% over five years, per the Zillow Observed Rent Index. The national typical rent is $1,948. Among Rhode Island cities we track, rents range from $1,606 to $3,073 a month.
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Rhode Island?
Renting is cheaper month to month in Providence, Rhode Island's largest metro. Typical rent is $2,167 and the principal-and-interest payment on the typical home with 20% down is $2,703, a difference of $536 a month in favor of renting. The payment excludes property tax (1.39% of value in Rhode Island), insurance and maintenance, and renting builds no equity, so the full answer depends on how long you stay.
How much income do you need to buy a house in Rhode Island?
About $139,686 a year, using Zillow's assumptions of 20% down at current mortgage rates and a payment of no more than 30% of income. The median Rhode Island household earns $81,800, so the typical household is $57,886 short. That is the #43 smallest affordability gap of the 50 states. The monthly payment of $2,630 equals 38.6% of the median household's income.
Where are homes cheapest and most expensive in Rhode Island?
Among the Rhode Island cities we track with Zillow data, the most expensive typical home is in Newport ($965,074) and the cheapest in Central Falls ($382,685). Also at the top: Westerly ($638,610), Tiverton ($556,840), and Cranston ($457,533). The city table above lists every tracked Rhode Island city with its value, one-year change and rent.
How does Rhode Island compare with nearby states?
In the Northeast, the closest comparisons on price are New Hampshire ($516,306, up 2.9% in a year), New York ($526,714, up 5.6% in a year), and Connecticut ($450,873, up 5.0% in a year). Rhode Island's typical home is $511,233, up 3.4%. On affordability, Rhode Island ranks #43 of 50 versus New Hampshire at #26, New York at #47, and Connecticut at #33.
How current is the Rhode Island housing data?
Every figure on this page comes from Zillow Research, which publishes state, metro and city data free each month for the prior month; the latest month shown is August. Median household income is from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. We rebuild the page from the newest Zillow files as they are released.
Home values, rents, mortgage payments, income needed, inventory, price cuts, days to pending and sale and list prices are published by Zillow Research and shown as released, with attribution. Median household income and city populations are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Home prices and housing markets in all 50 states →