Fact Books

The Housing Fact Book is an annual publication presented by HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University that outlines housing affordability data for Rhode Island's 39 municipalities.

The goal of this annual publication is to provide the consumer with easy-to-understand information, as well as a tool to inform local and state decision-makers on the importance of an integrated approach to improving housing affordability in Rhode Island.

Rhode Islanders are struggling economically: the top two concerns identified in the 2024 RI Life Index were cost of living and housing affordability. Since 2018, wages have grown by less than 30 percent but housing costs in the Ocean State have increased by over 60 percent. More recently, Rhode Island’s single family home prices have jumped higher and faster than anywhere else in the country and rental increases are currently the steepest in New England.

Relieving this pressure on Rhode Islanders hinges on developing a healthy real estate ecosystem in which a wide array of sellers, buyers, and renters participate, requiring a substantial and diverse inventory of new homes. The state’s draft strategic housing plan, Housing 2030, has a stated goal of permitting 15,000 new homes over the next five years and preserving the existing affordability of thousands more.

The two most critical tools in meeting these goals are funding and favorable regulatory conditions. In November 2024, voters approved the state’s fifth housing bond—the largest to date—of $120M. In 2025, the General Assembly passed another round of legislation to improve regulatory conditions, including some state level reforms regarding building codes and permitting. These efforts, started in 2023, ultimately seek to promote opportunities for residential development that meet Rhode Island’s current market needs, including healthy, affordable homes especially near transit and jobs. A healthy housing market balances supply and demand, is responsive to both households and the economy, and factors in the amenities that make a location more or less desirable and therefore more or less valuable.

This year’s Housing Fact Book (.PDF) explores a variety of inputs that contribute to a healthy market. The state pages examine the critical roles of contributing qualitative factors like health and education outcomes and vibrant community life. In the regional section we continue to look at broader geographies and demographics and include new property tax analysis regarding the value of single family and multifamily homes to both municipalities and residents. Lastly, the municipal pages reveal the hard truths of housing affordability on the ground in Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns in 2024.