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You've finally finished the career grind and are looking to retire somewhere in the Ocean State. But where are the best places to retire in Rhode Island? Don't worry, we've got you covered.
First off: why retire in Rhode Island? For starters, it's one of the safest states in the country, so you won't have to spend your retirement worrying about crime. Second, if you need to retire near the sea, you'll never be too far away in Rhode Island. And the beaches of Rhode Island cater to everyone; from the more family-oriented Easton's Beach in Newport to the more exciting Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, complete with all the water sport rentals you could ever want. Third, the art scene in Providence is guaranteed to keep you smiling. Especially WaterFire Providence events in the summer, which are sure to take your breath away (and provide some epic pictures to show the family). Heck, Taylor Swift and James Woods have good reason to call Old Rhody home.
So just where are these great places for retirement in Rhode Island? Most of these ten cities are also among Rhode Island's biggest cities, so you definitely won't be far from the action. Some of the state's most famous cities, like Providence, Newport, and Pawtucket, are all great places for retirement, so you won't need to break out the map when you're explaining where you're retiring to your family.
We hope you like clam chowder and Del's Lemonade, because we're heading to the best places to retire in Rhode Island.
The 10 Best Places To Retire In Rhode Island For 2023
Why did Westerly take the top spot? And where are Providence and Warwick?
There you have it: the best places to retire in Rhode Island. Fun fact: 100% of the cities on this also make up our list of best cities for families in Rhode Island. Talk about ready-made material for convincing the family to move close by.
You may be curious how we arrived at these places as the best of the best for retirement in Rhode Island. Well, we started by narrowing down our search to the 10 cities in Rhode Island with a population of at least 8,000. Then we parsed data from the Census, the FBI's Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights, looking for the most affordable, safest, and sunniest cities with the most to do. What city got the gold medal for retirement? According to the data, Westerly is the best place to retire in Rhode Island for 2023.
Want to see how all 10 cities we looked at did? Check out the complete list below for each city of at least 8,000 did in our rankings.
For more Rhode Island state reading:
- Best Places To Live In Rhode Island
- Cheapest Places To Live In Rhode Island
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Rhode Island
- Best Places To Retire In America
The 10 Best Places To Retire In Rhode Island For 2023
/10
Population: 18,241
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Median Rent: $1,162
Distance to Closest Airport: 59 miles
More on Westerly: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 47,171
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Rent: $1,055
Distance to Closest Airport: 42 miles
More on East Providence: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 8,240
Rank Last Year: -
Median Rent: $1,101
Distance to Closest Airport: 50 miles
More on Tiverton: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 75,200
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Rent: $1,007
Distance to Closest Airport: 38 miles
More on Pawtucket: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 43,044
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Rent: $974
Distance to Closest Airport: 35 miles
More on Woonsocket: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 82,666
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Median Rent: $1,240
Distance to Closest Airport: 50 miles
More on Warwick: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 22,192
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Rent: $955
Distance to Closest Airport: 38 miles
More on Central Falls: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 82,654
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 3)
Median Rent: $1,185
Distance to Closest Airport: 47 miles
More on Cranston: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 188,812
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Median Rent: $1,098
Distance to Closest Airport: 42 miles
More on Providence: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 25,322
Rank Last Year: 9 (Down 1)
Median Rent: $1,400
Distance to Closest Airport: 63 miles
More on Newport: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In the Ocean State for 2023
To create our list of the best places in Rhode Island to retire, we first used Census data to find all places in the Ocean State -- 34 cities and towns.
We then narrowed it down to places with at least 8,000 people that weren't townships. This left us with 10 places from across the state.
For these 10, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI's Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:
- Low cost of living as measured by rent
- Low crime
- Things to do (Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in town)
- Nice weather
- Distance to the closest international airport
- Other retirees (High median age)
We then ranked each of these places for each criteria from one to 10, with the lowest number being the best.
Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Westerly, with the lowest average rank was crowned the best of the best, a place for you to start your second careers. You can download the data here.
Summary: Maybe You're Not Ready To Retire In Rhode Island Yet...
So there you have it, the best place to retire in Rhode Island goes to Westerly.
If you're not ready to hang up your office apparel yet, then these places might be up your alley:
- Newport
- Providence
- Cranston
For more Rhode Island reading, check out:
Where Are The Best Places To Retire In Rhode Island?
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westerly | 18,241 |
| 2 | East Providence | 47,171 |
| 3 | Tiverton | 8,240 |
| 4 | Pawtucket | 75,200 |
| 5 | Woonsocket | 43,044 |
| 6 | Warwick | 82,666 |
| 7 | Central Falls | 22,192 |
| 8 | Cranston | 82,654 |
| 9 | Providence | 188,812 |
| 10 | Newport | 25,322 |
