10 Safest Cities To Live In Rhode Island

If you are looking to relocate to a new home in Rhode Island, your first priority is to make sure that the neighborhood you’re going to be living in is safe. Safety is something that simply cannot be understated, after all. When it comes to Rhode Island, the interesting fact is that its citizens are quite concerned about their safety, even though the state boasts numbers that are lower than the national average. Therefore, before you hire one of the best cross country movers Rhode Island has to offer, you may want to choose an ideal city for your new home. In this article, we will be taking a look at some of the safest cities to live In Rhode Island, as well as providing you a detailed overview of Rhode Island crime facts and statistics.

Top 10 Safest Cities To Live In Rhode Island

To start things off, here’s a quick list of the top 10 Safest cities to live in Rhode Island:

• North Kingstown
• Westerly
• Coventry
• East Providence
• Bristol
• Cumberland
• Smithfield
• Johnston
• South Kingstown
• North Providence

Note that the list is not ranked, as all of these cities are concerned a generally safe place to live. While they do differ in crime rates, it is not by a large margin. In some places, the property crime rate may be higher but the violent crime rate is lower. Thus, before you start looking for interstate movers Cranston has, for example, you will want to make sure that you know about all of the facts. But before we get to individual city statistics, it is important that you understand the state’s crime concerns, experiences, attitude toward the police, etc.

An overview of Rhode Island crime rates

An interesting fact about Rhode Island is that its residents exhibit greater crime concerns than in most other states. However, another fact shows us that Rhode Island boasts crime rates that are well below the national average. In some of the safest cities, the crime rates are almost 60% lower than in the rest of the country, on average. Overall, Rhode Island has the 9th-lowest violent crime rate in the country. 

However, if we are looking only at the states in the New England region, Rhode Island actually has the second-highest crime rate. In 2021, the state reported 2.2 violent crime incidents per 1,000 residents, the same as in 2020. To put things into perspective, this is far below what the national average is. When it comes to property crime, it is still lower in Rhode Island than what the nation’s average is. Many people decide to get in touch with their, let’s say interstate moving companies Warwick, and relocate to RI for this very reason. However, if we are only taking the New England region into account, violent crime is almost three times higher in Rhode Island than in the rest of the region.

The good news is that the property crime rate is steadily dropping. In 2021, the state decreased the property crime rate by almost 8%. Overall, the number of property crimes per 1,000 residents in Rhode Island is 15.4.

Concerns and experience

As we mentioned previously, the level of concern among the residents of Rhode Island is quite high. It even rose by around 3% this year, showing that the people are increasingly concerned about the state of affairs. There are several factors why this is happening, despite living in a relatively safe area. The first factor is that there are fewer property crimes being reported to the police, due to various reasons. And the second is that the use of property protection measures is still less prevalent in Rhode Island than in the rest of the country. This, at a first glance, seems to be quite a paradox. Usually, with that level of concern, people would be looking to hire one of the interstate movers Providence has and get out of the state as soon as possible. But that is not the case in RI.

When asked about the state’s safety, most of the residents (60% of them) said that while they are concerned, the state is a safe place to live. Nationwide, this number is somewhat lower, as around 55% of US residents answer that their own state is a safe place. An interesting bit of information is that Rhode Islanders exhibit more confidence in their law enforcement system. On average, there are 13% more citizens in Rhode Island who believe that law enforcement is doing a good job than the national average.

What do Rhode Island inhabitants fear?

Most of the state’s population is concerned about package thefts. Also, 53% of the residents are afraid on a daily basis that a crime might happen to them. However, statistics show that in the past 12 months, around 15% of residents have experienced violent crime in some form, 18% have experienced property crime, and 11% have experienced gun violence. While this might not be the reason to search for the best cross country movers Pawtucket has, for example, it is still something to ponder over. When compared to the national average, Rhode Island is 1% more concerned about violent crime, 7% more about property crime, 5% about package theft, and 1% about gun violence. Now, let’s take a look at some of these statistics up-close.

Violent crime rate

To make sure that you know how exactly we’ve chosen the safest cities to live In Rhode Island, you need to take a closer look at the violent crime rate, the most heinous of all crime rates. For starters, you will be happy to know that the violent crime rates in Rhode Island have been (and still are) one of the lowest in the nation. However, they slightly increased over the last few years, and the concern of the citizens also rose.

The crime rate of 2.2 violent crimes per 1,000 people may very well be below the national average of 3.7 but it is second-highest in the New England region. If we were to compare Rhode Island to the New England region alone, these numbers would not be favorable. In fact, if you were to undergo residential moving within the region, you might find safer locations than Rhode Island’s cities. But if you look at them from a nationwide perspective, they are still quite lower and that is a fact.

Crime breakdown

While Rhode Island may see fewer murders, assaults, and robberies in their violent crime statistics, there is one crime that is significantly higher represented than in the rest of the country. Reports of rape incidents make up almost 21% of all violent crime in the Ocean State, as compared to 8.2% in the rest of the country. Now, this is not as bad as it may seem at the first glance, as most of the discrepancy is probably caused by differing FBI definitions of rape. Nevertheless, around 38% of Rhode Island residents that participated in the survey mention that they are using some form of personal protection. Whether it is a stun gun or a pepper spray, the residents simply feel better if they have some means of protecting themselves.

In regards to the pandemic, 45% of residents note that their personal safety has been influenced by recent events (the national average is 45%). Furthermore, almost 73% of the people are highly concerned about the pandemic and everything about it. When it comes to COVID-19 concerns, Rhode Island is the 6th-most concerned state in the entire country.

Gun violence and attitude toward police

Interestingly enough, even though violent crimes are much lower than in most other states, around 58% of the surveyed residents named gun violence as their top concern. That is about 5% higher than what you can see in other states, on average. In 2020, there was not a single mass shooting incident in the state, and there was only one officer-involved shooting, which was a repeat from 2019’s end-of-year totals. Therefore, it is also not a surprise that Rhode Island residents have much higher confidence in their law enforcement system. Best Cross Country Movers found out that over 63% of them support the way law enforcement is approaching public safety. Compared to the national average of 56%, that is quite an increase.

Property crime rate

When it comes to the property crime rates, the residents of Rhode Island are around 17% more concerned about property crime than the national average. Even so, the property-related crime numbers are dropping year by year. In 2020 there were 16.6 reported incidents per 1,000 people, which improved to 15.4 in 2021. Most people in the state are proactive about their home security (57%), whereas the national average is 62%. These numbers clearly indicate that while the residents might be concerned, the situation is not dire as in some of the other states. This is clearly evidenced in some commercial moving statistics, with most moving companies reporting a healthy number of office relocations. People want to work where it’s safe, after all.

Safest cities to live in Rhode Island – statistics

Before we get into individual statistics of each city on our list, we would like to mention a few facts. The term “safest” refers explicitly to the crime rates that were calculated from FBI crime statistics. This does not mean that a certain community is considered to be safer than another. There is no characterization nor any implications to the community at large. Only cold, hard, facts. With that in mind, let’s take a look at what the statistics show.

North Kingstown

• Population: 26,300
• Median household income: $81,000
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 0.9
• The property crime rate in 2021: 8.1

The city of North Kingstown is well known for its higher than the average median income, as well as being one of the safest cities to live in Rhode Island, with less than 1 violent crime per 1,000 residents. Another thing to note is that the property crime rate was significantly reduced from 2019 when it was 10.5. It is a city where you can, most of the time, hire storage services and have nothing to worry about. You will still want to search for the safest neighborhood, of course. But on average, the city is quite a safe place to live.

Westerly

• Population: 22,500
• Median household income: $63,000
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 0.7
• The property crime rate in 2021: 10.8

In Westerly, we see an even lower violent crime rate than in North Kingstown. However, the property crime rate is significantly higher, as well. Law enforcement is doing their best to combat it, though, as it used to be much higher in the previous years. In 2019, the property crime rate was 17 per 1,000 residents, then lowered to 12.8 in 2020. Things are shaping up in Westerly, that is certain.

Coventry

• Population: 35,000
• Median household income: $70,000
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 0.9
• The property crime rate in 2021: 11.1

The city of Coventry is somewhere in between Kingstown and Westerly, according to crime statistics. While the violent crime rate is low, with less than 1 incident per thousand residents, the property crime rate is slightly higher than in Westerly.

East Providence

• Population: 48,000
• Median household income: $58,000
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 1.3
• The property crime rate in 2021: 10.5

One of the more “dangerous” cities on our list, East Providence may seem like an unsafe place to live. However, the main reason why interstate moving companies East Providence has are not experiencing an increased number of relocations away from the city is that these statistics are still very low compared to the national average. And there is an obvious improvement in the property crime rate from 2019 when there were 12.2 reported incidents per 1,000 people.

One of the safest cities to live In Rhode Island – Bristol

• Population: 22,000
• Median household income: $61,000
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 0.7
• The property crime rate in 2021: 4.7

Based on statistics alone, Bristol might very well be the safest place to live in Rhode Island. With both crime rates being minuscule compared to most other places, it is a strong contender for the safest city in the entire state. The only worrying fact is that it is one of the few cities where the property crime rate increased from 2019, if by a marginal amount (4.4 to 4.7).

Cumberland

• Population: 35,000
• Median household income: $75,000
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 0.7
• The property crime rate in 2021: 7.2

Another extremely safe place to live, with only 0.7 reported violent crime incidents, Cumberland combines a relatively high median income with great safety. You will be able to afford packing services without needing to worry whether your hard-earned money will be in danger once you relocate to Cumberland. If we were to nitpick, the only thing we would put as a concern is the 2020 property crime rate which was 8.7.

Smithfield

• Population: 22,000
• Median household income: $71,300
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 0.3
• The property crime rate in 2021: 8.9

If you want to choose one of the safest cities to live in Rhode Island and base the decision on the violent crime rate alone, Smithfield would be the place to choose. With only 0.3 incidents per thousand residents, there is almost no mention of violent crime throughout the year.

Johnston

• Population: 30,000
• Median household income: $58,000
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 1.1
• The property crime rate in 2021: 11.1

Somewhat lower median income makes Johnston a little less desirable but the crime numbers are still very low.

South Kingstown

• Population: 31,000
• Median household income: $72,000
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 0.6
• The property crime rate in 2021: 7.0

Featuring some of the lowest violent and property crime rates, the city of South Kingstown is a strong contender for the safest city in the state. And the median income is nothing to scoff at.

North Providence

• Population: 33,000
• Median household income: $54,000
• The violent crime rate in 2021: 1.3
• The property crime rate in 2021: 6.4

The last city on our list, North Providence, is definitely one of the safest cities to live In Rhode Island due to the exceptionally low property crime rate. While the violent crime rate might look higher than in some of the other cities, it is still only 1.3 incidents per 1,000 residents.