Property Taxes in Rhode Island
Rhode Island's property tax runs real, current, and genuinely elevated relative to the national average -- a statewide effective rate this record anchors at approximately 1.35% (real cross-source range 1.12%-1.53%), above the roughly 1.0%-1.1% national average -- though the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) frames the burden honestly as real but 'painful, not the region's worst,' genuinely lower than several neighboring New England states.
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Learn moreA genuinely elevated statewide rate, and its real cross-source range
This pass's 2026 research found Rhode Island's statewide average effective property tax rate figures ranging from 1.12% (Tax Foundation, 2024 ACS-based owner-occupied housing value) to 1.21%-1.32% (several property-tax aggregators, consistently ranking Rhode Island around 15th-highest nationally) to 1.35% (a per-county assessed-fair-market-value average, this record's anchor) up to 1.40%-1.53% (two further aggregators reviewed). A median annual property tax bill around $4,900 accompanies that rate per one aggregator source this pass reviewed -- disclosed as an approximate figure rather than a precisely cross-corroborated one.
RIPEC's own framing: real, but not the region's worst
The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) -- a Rhode Island-specific, independent research organization -- frames the state's property tax burden as real and 'painful, but not the region's worst': genuinely lower than Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire, but higher than Massachusetts and Maine. This record credits that regional comparison directly rather than presenting Rhode Island's property tax in isolation from its Northeastern neighbors, even as every figure in the disclosed statewide spread runs clearly above the roughly 1.0%-1.1% national average.
39 municipalities each set their own rate -- confirm your target directly
Rhode Island's statewide average masks real municipality-by-municipality variation: each of Rhode Island's 39 individual cities and towns sets its own local property tax rate, so a prospective buyer or mover should confirm the current, specific rate for any target municipality directly rather than budgeting off the statewide figure. This matters especially given the state's real regional diversity -- from the dense Providence urban core to South County's higher-value coastal communities to the more rural northwest corner.
What this means alongside Rhode Island's other taxes
Rhode Island's elevated property tax sits alongside a flat 7% statewide sales tax (with the real simplicity advantage of no local add-ons anywhere in the state) and a graduated income tax topping out at 5.99% for 2026 -- see the income-taxes and sales-tax topics for the fuller picture. Unlike Montana or New Hampshire, Rhode Island does not forgo either a general sales tax or an income tax, so its property tax burden sits within a genuinely broader three-legged tax structure rather than compensating for the absence of another major tax category.
Key takeaways
- Rhode Island's statewide effective property tax rate runs approximately 1.35% (real cross-source range 1.12%-1.53%), above the roughly 1.0%-1.1% national average.
- RIPEC frames the burden as real but 'painful, not the region's worst' -- genuinely lower than Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire, higher than Massachusetts and Maine.
- Each of Rhode Island's 39 municipalities sets its own local rate -- confirm the current, specific rate directly for any target city or town.
- Rhode Island's property tax sits within a genuinely broader three-legged tax structure alongside a flat 7% sales tax and a 5.99%-top-rate income tax, unlike states that forgo one major tax category.
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Get local guidanceRead the full Rhode Island overview for the complete picture, or explore individual cities and towns we've researched.
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