Cost of living answer

Cost of Living in Kingston, RI

Cost of Living in Kingston, RI has an overall index of 126, 26% above the U.S. baseline of 100. The typical home value is $553,400 (Census ACS, 2024); A committed rent estimate is unavailable; and median household income is $107,404 (Census ACS 2024).

Cost index: committed city housing/rent inputs and BEA 2024 state nonmetro price parities. Home value: Census ACS 2024 fallback place estimate. Rent: unavailable in the committed city snapshot. A place-level signal, not a personal affordability decision or financial recommendation.

Check your household fit Compare Kingston

Cost vs U.S.26% aboveModeled index 126 · ACS 2024 / BEA 2024

Typical rentN/ACensus ACS · 2024

Typical home value$553,400Census ACS · 2024

Median household income$107,404Census ACS · 2024 place estimate

Market PressureHigh

Home prices are the main source of pressure. This describes the local market, not your household.

Rent pressure

Threshold only

Typical annual rent divided by local median household income.

Buy pressure

5.2x

Typical home value divided by local median household income.

Common questions

What living in Kingston costs, and what the data does and does not explain.

Four questions readers ask most, answered from the committed sources below. Every figure keeps its source, vintage, and limitation; none of it is personal financial advice.

Cost outside housing

How do non-housing costs here compare with the nation?

Day-to-day non-housing costs here run about 5% below the U.S. baseline.

Non-housing index95100 = U.S. baseline

Goods9620% weight

Services9820% weight

Utilities8810% weight

The index weights goods 96 (20%), services 98 (20%), and utilities 88 (10%) over the non-housing half of the model, where utilities show the widest gap below the national baseline at 88. It excludes rent and home prices, so it is not the overall Regional Price Parity and not the overall cost index. Source: BEA 2024 national nonmetropolitan proxy (one shared value set for every unmatched place in this snapshot, so it is not state- or city-specific).

Housing vs state and nation

Is housing here above or below the state and the country?

Typical home value$553,400Census ACS

Typical rentNot statedCensus ACS

The typical home value is $553,400 (Census ACS 2024 place estimate). It is 25% above the $440,994 median across Rhode Island cities in this dataset, and 82% above the committed $303,400 U.S. baseline used site-wide (Census ACS 2019–2023).

No committed monthly rent estimate is available for Kingston in this snapshot.

The Rhode Island median is a cross-city statistic over the 16 committed city home values and 15 committed city rents (Zillow Aug 2026, HUD FMR, or Census ACS 2024 as matched per place). It is not a statewide household median and it is not appraised market data. U.S. baselines are Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national medians used across this site ($303,400 home value; $1,348 monthly gross rent), and have not been refreshed to the ACS 2024 city vintage or the Zillow Aug 2026 vintage. Any city-to-national gap therefore mixes vintages.

Why the numbers look like this

Which local signals explain the difference?

The committed figures line up: price-to-income ratio and vacancy rate point the same way relative to their baselines (higher ratios and lower vacancy count as one direction, and their opposites as the other), and no compared figure points the other way. That is a description of this one snapshot, not a forecast.

Rent-to-income ratioNot stated
Not stated · The rent-to-income ratio is not stated because a committed rent or household-income value is missing or top-coded.
Baseline: 21% implied by Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national medians
Price-to-income ratioAbove baseline
5.2x · The typical home value is 5.2 times local median household income (Census ACS 2024 place estimate home value ÷ Census ACS 2024 median household income). This is a place-level ratio, not an individual affordability test. The Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national medians imply 3.9x.
Baseline: 3.9x implied by Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national medians
Vacancy rateBelow baseline
5.7% · 5.7% of all housing units here are reported vacant in Census ACS 2024. That counts every vacant unit, including seasonal, occasional-use, and other vacant homes, and it is not current for-sale or for-rent inventory. The population-weighted mean across the committed city dataset is about 8%.
Baseline: about 8% committed city-sample mean
Owner shareAbove baseline
81.9% · 81.9% of occupied units are owner-occupied in Census ACS 2024, against a committed national owner-occupied share of 64.6% (Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national medians). This describes tenure mix — more owners usually means a smaller rental stock, not by itself higher or lower pressure.
Baseline: 64.6% committed national owner-occupied share

These are associations inside one committed snapshot, not causal evidence. The dataset has no current listings, pending sales, sale timelines, or construction, migration, income-growth, and unit-mix fields, so nothing here proves or disproves a housing shortage: a low vacancy rate or a high rent-to-income ratio can have several explanations. Treat the figures as context for your own search, not as a cause.

Monthly budget by household size

What might a family of five spend per month here?

A monthly budget is not estimated because this place has no committed rent value in the snapshot.

The five-person estimate needs a committed rent value, and this place does not have one.

Housing and rent: Census ACS 2024 place estimate home value; Census ACS 2024 place estimate rent. Top-coded ACS values stay thresholds, never exact medians. Non-housing: BEA 2024 goods, services, and utilities price parities (national nonmetropolitan proxy). Why: rent Census ACS 2024 place estimate, home value Census ACS 2024 place estimate, plus Census ACS 2024 income, vacancy, and owner-occupancy fields. National baselines: Census ACS 2019–2023 5-Year national medians (not refreshed to ACS 2024 or Zillow Aug 2026), so city-to-national gaps mix vintages. Budget: modeled from the committed national median household income and this city's exact rent and BEA non-housing index; assumptions and exclusions are listed with the table. Budget is not produced when rent is top-coded.

Your Household Fit

Can your household carry the housing cost?

Start with four decisions. Open advanced assumptions only when you need to replace the local defaults.

Your Household FitNot calculated yet

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Compare cities

Compare Kingston with another place.

Search one destination and see which housing and local-cost categories change most.

City details

Inspect the numbers when you need them.

Overall cost index126100 = U.S. baseline

Goods964% below baseline

Services982% below baseline

Utilities8812% below baseline

Alternatives worth comparing

Other Rhode Island cities with a useful tradeoff.

Recommendations require usable housing and income data and exclude very small places for a city of this scale.

Cranston, RISame-state comparisonRent burden28%Home / income5.1x Compare

Warwick, RILower home-price pressure · Same-state comparisonRent burden30%Home / income4.8x Compare

Similar-size Rhode Island cities

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Frequently asked questions about Kingston

Mortgage benchmark baseline 2026-09-24 is past its weekly update cadence; a newer official vintage exists but is not reflected.

Living in Kingston

Is Kingston, RI an expensive place to live?+

Yes — Kingston is about 26% more expensive than the national average, with an overall Cost Index of 126. Housing is the biggest factor: the typical home here is valued around $553,400, and monthly rents are unavailable in the committed city snapshot. Day-to-day costs like groceries and utilities tend to run closer to the national norm.

How does Kingston fit a household housing budget?+

Start with housing. Typical monthly rent is unavailable, while local median household income is $107,404. Rent-burden varies by household and unit choice. Use that as a planning signal for whether the place looks manageable under your own household assumptions.

How much are taxes in Kingston, RI?+

Rhode Island uses an approximate state-income-tax planning model; 5.99% is top marginal-rate context from the tax snapshot. Applying the 1.12% state-level effective owner-occupied proxy to a home worth $553,400 gives a planning estimate near $6,198 per year; it is not a city, county, parcel, or individual tax bill. State plus average local sales-tax context is around 7%.

How much does a house cost in Kingston, RI?+

The typical home value in Kingston is $553,400. With 20% down and the committed 7.03% national 30-year fixed benchmark as of 2026-09-24, principal and interest are roughly $2,954/month before property tax and insurance. This is a planning estimate, not a local lender quote. Baseline is past its weekly update cadence; a newer official vintage exists but is not reflected. About 82% of residents here own their homes.

Are groceries and utilities expensive in Kingston?+

Grocery prices in Kingston are about average compared to the rest of the US (index: 96, where 100 is the national average). Utility bills (electricity, gas, water) are below average (index: 88). Overall, these everyday costs shouldn't cause major surprises if you're moving from another similarly-sized US city.

What is Kingston, RI like to live in?+

Kingston is a small town with a population of about 7,332. The median age of residents is 19.5, skewing younger — often a sign of a college town or fast-growing area. The local poverty rate is 1.79%, well below the national average of 12.4%.