Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Glocester grades A overall, 14th of 38 graded towns in Rhode Island. It reports less crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns. The median household earns $114K and its schools outperform 83% of the state's. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $512K for a typical one and 5.9 times the Providence metro’s $87K median household income. 19% of the land in Glocester is conserved, where Rhode Island’s towns sit at 11% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Only 2 of Rhode Island’s 39 towns score lower on walkability. Glocester has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Glocester Town Pound and Chepachet Village Historic District.
Where Glocester beats most towns.
Glocester Town PoundCensus counts: 4,025 in 1790, a low of 1,389 in 1920, 9,974 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1808 and 8 maps from 1889 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Rhode Island), ordered by how far Glocester is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Glocester. Close and well known come first.
Big draw13 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw36 mi MuseumThe Breakers
27 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
30 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
36 mi MuseumMarble HouseLake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · Marble House: [email protected], Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Glocester, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Glocester.
Glocester gets more snow than almost anywhere else in Rhode Island, reports less crime than Scituate or any other graded neighbor and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Rhode Island.
Its A+ tops all 4 graded towns on its borders; Scituate (A+) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 4 reported in 2025, 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
At 1 per 1,000 residents, Glocester’s property crime rate is below both the Rhode Island town median (5.5) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). The violent crime rate in Glocester is 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Glocester | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1 per 1,000 residents | 5.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 0.6 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its A− for schools comes with a C− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $512K.
Its public schools are run by the Foster-Glocester school district. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Ponaganset High School, with 869 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ponaganset Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 396 | B |
| Ponaganset High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 869 | A− |
| Fogarty MemorialTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 318 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within RI on state tests and graduation
49 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. Glocester’s trail density is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Byron Winsor Park | — | 17 |
| 2. Glocester Memorial Park | — | 5 |
| 3. Pascoag Reservoir Fishing Access | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Within Rhode Island it is less healthy than 59% of the 38 graded towns: Rhode Island sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Rhode Island is no health insurance: 4.6% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 8.2% statewide.
Glocester beats the Rhode Island average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 85% of adults had a checkup this year in Glocester.
| Glocester | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 85% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 19% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 29% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 4.6% | 5.4% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Glocester | RI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.6% | 8.2% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.8% | 14.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.7% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 82% of U.S. communities. Since 1983, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Glocester.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 5,010 working residents takes 34.4 minutes, against 25.5 across Rhode Island.
Most working residents leave Glocester for work: only 9% work in town. Only 1 of the 38 Rhode Island towns we compare have a higher average trip to work than Glocester. Jobs based in Glocester grew to 1,678 in 2023, 197 more than in 2013.
| Glocester | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $114,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.8% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 8.8% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 13% of residents (24% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (39% statewide). Glocester has grown 6.3% since 2020, to 10,612 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 22% of Glocester residents are 65 or older.
| Glocester | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 50.8 years | 43.8 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 21% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 18% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 40% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across Rhode Island, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Glocester | RI | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.9% | 10% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.9% | 8.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.2% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.9% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.3% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.7% | 13.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.6% | 11% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.6% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.6% | 10.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.8% | 26.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.8% | 17.4% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13% | 8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.9% | 22.4% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.8% | 15.4% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The N Foster 1 E weather station records that 62 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, the highest of 67 Rhode Island places with climate records.
Glocester has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82° and January nights drop to 18°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
64.5% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48% across Rhode Island.
The typical Glocester home is worth about $512,000, up 2.9% in a year, close to the Rhode Island typical home.
| Glocester | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 91% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,417 a month | $1,366 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
5 within 15 miles of the center of Glocester
About 4 of every 100 Glocester residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Rhode Island.
Where Glocester’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Glocester on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Glocester.
Town in Rhode Island, United States
Glocester, otherwise officially called the Town of Glocester, Rhode Island, is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 9,974 as of the 2020 census. The villages of Chepachet and Harmony are in Glocester. Putnam Pike (U.S. Route 44) runs west through the town center of Glocester into Putnam, Connecticut.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Glocester.
| Town | RI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glocester | #14 | A | C− | A+ | A− | A− |
| Burrillville | #26 | B | C | A | C+ | B+ |
| Foster | #22 | B+ | D | A | B+ | A− |
| Smithfield | #10 | A | C | A− | A− | A |
| Pascoag | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Scituate | #15 | A | D | A+ | A− | A− |
| Harmony | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Greenville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Pascoag, Harmony and Greenville aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Glocester with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Glocester grades A overall, better than 87% of U.S. towns and #14 of 38 in Rhode Island. It grades A− for health, A+ for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
4 notable people were born here, including Charles H. Page and George H. Browne.
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