State rental market analysis · RI
Rhode Island rental markets
8 tracked cities over 5,000 population, 8 ranked and summarized by their median Overall; 0 of 8 evaluable cities pass the modeled Buy & Hold screen. Every number traces to Census, Zillow and BLS. Compare state coverage and results →
Browse every Rhode Island ZIP Code area → · the full server-rendered index for this state.
Part of the New England Census division (Northeast region).
The honest read
Rhode Island has a median Overall of 42.5/100 across its ranked cities, but it is not assigned a headline state rank: 8 cities across 3 county contexts are evaluable for the Buy & Hold screen, below the published minimum of 20 cities and 10 county contexts. 8 ranked cities roll up into this grade. Its strongest factor is rent growth: 5.5%, 1st of 51, backed by home-value growth (2nd).
The biggest drag is affordability (price-to-income): 6.1×, 43rd of 51. A state grade is the median of its ranked cities, a screen for where to look, not underwriting. Open any city below for its full shown-math breakdown, or run a specific deal through the cap rate and cash-flow calculators.
Where it ranks, factor by factor
Every value is the median across the 8 ranked cities in this state. The national rank compares all 51 states on that one factor; the engine already flips inverted factors (affordability, low unemployment) so a better rank always means a better market. Each factor sits in one of the model’s three categories (Cash Flow, Growth, or Stability); this is a representative summary, and the full thirteen-factor breakdown is on each city’s page. Full methodology.
| Factor | Category | State value | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross rent yield | Cash Flow | 5.7% | #28 of 51 |
| Rent growth | Growth | 5.5% | #1 of 51 |
| Home value growth | Growth | 6.4% | #2 of 51 |
| Population growth | Growth | 0.5% | #26 of 51 |
| Job growth | Growth | 0.7% | #25 of 51 |
| Price-to-income | Cash Flow | 6.1× | #43 of 51 |
| Unemployment | Stability | 4.7% | #43 of 51 |
| Rental demand | Stability | 48% renters · 3.9% vacancy | two-part measure |
| Income growth | Growth | 6.4% | #2 of 51 |
Every city in Rhode Island, ranked
Led by Warwick at 54/100. Click any column to re-sort; every city links to its full shown-math breakdown.
| RI rank | City | Grade | Cash Flow | Growth | Stability | Typical home value | Gross yield | National rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warwick | 54 | C | C | B | $422,122 | 6.2% | #1331 |
| 2 | Cranston | 52 | D | C | B | $457,533 | 5.5% | #1643 |
| 3 | East Providence | 50 | D | C | B | $447,287 | 5.4% | #1972 |
| 4 | Pawtucket | 47 | D | B | C | $400,687 | 5.6% | #2496 |
| 5 | Providence | 43 | D | B | D | $434,698 | 6.1% | #3057 |
| 6 | Central Falls | 42 | F | B | C | $382,685 | 5.0% | #3162 |
| 7 | Woonsocket | 34 | F | B | D | $387,096 | 5.0% | #4027 |
| 8 | Newport | 21 | F | D | C | $965,074 | 3.8% | #4667 |
Data as of: Zillow ZHVI/ZORI through the latest monthly release · Census ACS 5-yr 2020–2024 · Census PEP July 2025 · BLS LAUS county 2025 annual (11-month average). Generated 2026-10-06. Methodology & limitations · underwrite any specific deal with the free calculators.
ZIP markets in Rhode Island
81 Census ZIP Codes (ZCTAs) in Rhode Island · 50 data-eligible for subscores. These are sub-city government areas ranked separately from the Rhode Island city table. The overall Rental Investor ZIP Score leaderboard leads; the two component subscores (affordability, rental-market context) follow as independent percentiles. ZIP ranks are shown within the ZIP universe only, never mixed with, and not directly comparable to, city ranks. Vintage: the Key metric column is Census ACS 2020–2024 (5-year), the same release the city table above uses; the geographies differ, so the same measure can still disagree between the two.
Best overall ZIP Codes in Rhode Island
Ranked by the overall Rental Investor ZIP Score. The # is each ZIP Code's canonical RI state rank; the smaller figure is its national rank. Separate from the Rhode Island city table and not directly comparable to it.
| RI rank | ZIP Code | Overallgrade · national | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 02861Pawtucket | B 62#2,841 nat | 4.7%Survey yield |
| #2 | 02920Cranston | B 61#3,241 nat | 4.2%Survey yield |
| #3 | 02910Cranston | B 60#3,419 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| #4 | 02860Pawtucket | B 60#3,466 nat | 4.3%Survey yield |
| #4 | 02908Providence | B 60#3,466 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| #4 | 02915East Providence | B 60#3,466 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
| #7 | 02904Providence | B 60#3,670 nat | 4.5%Survey yield |
| #8 | 02895Woonsocket | B 59#4,088 nat | 4.5%Survey yield |
| #9 | 02865 | B 59#4,175 nat | 3.6%Survey yield |
| #10 | 02893 | B 58#4,407 nat | 4.7%Survey yield |
| #10 | 02909Providence | B 58#4,407 nat | 5.0%Survey yield |
| #12 | 02919Providence | B 58#4,738 nat | 4.3%Survey yield |
Top affordability ZIP Codes in Rhode Island
State-scoped leaders on the affordability subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Substantially an inverse housing-cost signal: a component of the overall score, not a predicted return.
| # | ZIP Code | Affordability | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 02827Greene | 49#9,830 nat | 7.7%Survey yield |
| 2 | 02817 | 42#12,871 nat | 5.4%Survey yield |
| 3 | 02813Charlestown | 42#13,122 nat | 3.1%Survey yield |
| 4 | 02838 | 42#13,214 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| 5 | 02908Providence | 41#13,386 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| 6 | 02903Providence | 40#13,697 nat | 5.0%Survey yield |
| 7 | 02882Narragansett Pier | 40#13,980 nat | 2.7%Survey yield |
| 8 | 02910Cranston | 37#15,077 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| 9 | 02840Newport | 36#15,267 nat | 2.7%Survey yield |
| 10 | 02831Cranston | 35#15,667 nat | 4.4%Survey yield |
| 11 | 02909Providence | 35#15,712 nat | 5.0%Survey yield |
| 12 | 02915East Providence | 35#15,712 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
Deepest rental-market ZIP Codes in Rhode Island
State-scoped leaders on the rental-market-context subscore only (national rank shown is within that subscore’s data-eligible universe). Rental depth/tightness: a separate component, never combined here with affordability.
| # | ZIP Code | Rental market | Key metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 02860Pawtucket | 80#244 nat | 4.3%Survey yield |
| 2 | 02863Central Falls | 80#271 nat | 4.1%Survey yield |
| 3 | 02914East Providence | 77#548 nat | 4.1%Survey yield |
| 4 | 02907Providence | 77#662 nat | 4.0%Survey yield |
| 5 | 02885 | 76#779 nat | 4.1%Survey yield |
| 6 | 02838 | 73#1,201 nat | 5.3%Survey yield |
| 7 | 02920Cranston | 73#1,263 nat | 4.2%Survey yield |
| 8 | 02915East Providence | 73#1,356 nat | 4.8%Survey yield |
| 9 | 02905Providence | 72#1,573 nat | 3.8%Survey yield |
| 10 | 02910Cranston | 68#2,442 nat | 5.2%Survey yield |
| 11 | 02904Providence | 68#2,669 nat | 4.5%Survey yield |
| 12 | 02809 | 66#3,097 nat | 3.9%Survey yield |