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Place dossier plate
SheetRI-KINGSTON-RI · Kingston, RI 6,953 pop · income 64th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Kingston
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Kingston on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Idabel · lowest
36,638
Idabel · lowest
36,638 median HH income
27.0% of the leader · rank #1
Kingston · this city
82,143
Kingston · this city
82,143 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #2
Wildwood Crest · near
82,143
Wildwood Crest · near
82,143 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #3
Rarity Bay · near
82,143
Rarity Bay · near
82,143 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #4
Fayetteville · near
82,144
Fayetteville · near
82,144 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #5
Federal Way · near
82,144
Federal Way · near
82,144 median HH income
60.4% of the leader · rank #6
Linwood · highest
135,904
Linwood · highest
135,904 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Kingston on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 6,953.
Nationally, Kingston sits in the 64th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
64th
percentile, household income
84th
percentile, home value
86th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Kingston, RI
6,953 people live in Kingston, Rhode Island - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Kingston households earn a median of $82,143 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. Kingston's housing stock carries a median value of $493,500, and the median resident age is 19.6 years. About 82.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 37.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 49.5°F with 51.3 inches of precipitation per year.
Rhode Island tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 102.3 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,729 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $318 across Rhode Island, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Commute times here average 14.4 minutes, with 45.9% driving alone and 11.6% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 56.6 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Kingston's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from climate and hazard context to housing and income to schools and households to comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Kingston, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Kingston?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 49.5°F, with 51.3 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Rhode Island is 56.6 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
How far does income reach against housing in Kingston?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 6.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 82.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Which cities make useful reference points for Kingston?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within Rhode Island, the closest population matches are Tiverton (8,151 residents, $91,493 income); Greenville (8,586 residents, $94,567 income); Cumberland Hill (8,638 residents, $131,006 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Nevada, IA (6,952 residents); Linwood, NJ (6,954 residents); Natrona Heights, PA (6,955 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Kingston?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 45.9%. The reported mean trip to work is 14.4 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
45.9%
Work from home
11.6%
Public transit
1.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,242 workers age 16+.
Above median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
102.3 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Rhode Island average
B
City profile score · Kingston, RI
71/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A+
82.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C+
$82,143
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
102.3 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Kingston profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 100/100 (A+) · 82.0%
Household income: 62/100 (C+) · $82,143
Cost of living: 30/100 (F) · 102.3 index
How does Kingston compare to other US cities?
Where Kingston sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income64% higher than other cities
Home value84% pricier than other cities
Median rent86% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Kingston against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Rhode Island only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Rhode Island-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Kingston near the bottom of Rhode Island's cities
Among the 36 Rhode Island cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Kingston ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Kingston only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#25 of 33
24th percentile in Rhode Island
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 36
0th percentile in Rhode Island
Median Home Value
#8 of 35
77th percentile in Rhode Island
Poverty Rate
#26 of 36
0th percentile in Rhode Island
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1 of 36
97th percentile in Rhode Island
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Rhode Island only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
64th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Kingston's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$493,50016th percentilemore affordable than 16% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Kingston's home-value-to-income ratio: 6.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,101 of 15,516
More affordable than 9% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,461 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 6.0×, Kingston sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,101 of 15,516 and #10,461 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$82,143Kingston, RI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Kingston, RI median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Kingston, RI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)82.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)37.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
6,953
Median Income
$82,143
Median Home Value
$493,500
Median Age
19.6
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
37.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
82.0%
Climate
Avg Temperature
49.5°F
Annual Precipitation
51.3"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
14.4 minutes
Drive Alone
45.9%
Carpool
5.3%
Public Transit
1.5%
Walk
35.8%
Work from Home
11.6%
Based on 2,242 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Rhode Island statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $318
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Rhode Island at $318 (electricity about $155 , water and sewer about $58 ).
These are Rhode Island statewide averages, not a meter reading for Kingston. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Rhode Island's BEA cost-of-living index is 102.3 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Kingston is $1,729/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Rhode Island statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 56.6 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Rhode Island statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Kingston sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Kingston compares to similar-size Rhode Island cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.