Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
10.4 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Rhode Island town.
The best of New Shoreham’s subject grades are an A for walkability and an A+ for civic life and history; the weakest is a D− for cost of living. New Shoreham’s typical home value is $1,824,000, where Rhode Island’s towns sit at $547,000 and U.S. towns at $332,000. On cost of living, just 1 of Rhode Island’s 39 towns do worse. No town in Rhode Island scores higher than New Shoreham on civic life. New Shoreham has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Block Island South East Light and Old Harbor Historic District. Only 1 of Rhode Island’s 39 towns score higher on the outdoors. New Shoreham has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where New Shoreham beats most towns.
Block Island South East Light
Census counts: 489 in 1970, 1,410 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 5 maps from 1889 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Rhode Island), ordered by how far New Shoreham is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Shoreham, 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 New Shoreham.
The typical New Shoreham home is worth about $1,824,000, up 4.4% in a year, 4 times the Rhode Island typical home. 81% of households own their home in New Shoreham, against 76% in Rhode Island’s towns and 73% across U.S. towns.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the New Shoreham school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block Island SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 126 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within RI on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 96% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 15 flood insurance claims have been paid out in New Shoreham.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
14% of New Shoreham adults binge drink. Of the 39 Rhode Island towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than New Shoreham. 32% of New Shoreham adults sleep under 7 hours.
| New Shoreham | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 34% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 87% | 85% | 79% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 34% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 16% |
| What stands out | New Shoreham | RI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.8% | 13.1% |
| Fewer lonely adults | 27.5% | 35% |
| More adults with heart disease | 9.4% | 6.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
New Shoreham has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. New Shoreham’s July high is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
62% of New Shoreham’s working residents work right in town. The average trip to work in New Shoreham is 8 minutes. Jobs based in New Shoreham grew to 465 in 2023, 76 more than in 2013.
| New Shoreham | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 8 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $83,000 | $104,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 9.4% | 6.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
New Shoreham's reported crime rate is well below Rhode Island's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2023.
| New Shoreham | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 6.9 | 13.1 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.8 |
FBI crime data, 2023 · crimes reported to police
24 miles of trail in 52 parks and preserves. No town among the 39 in Rhode Island we compare has a lower share of conserved land than New Shoreham. The biggest park or preserve is Block Island National Wildlife Refuge, at 131 acres.
| New Shoreham | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.2% | 12% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lapham | 3.4 mi | 126 |
| 2. Rodman's Hollow | 2 mi | 114 |
| 3. Sachem Pond | 0.9 mi | 130 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around New Shoreham. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi MuseumThe Breakers
30 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
23 mi MuseumMarble House
24 mi MuseumThe Elms
23 mi MuseumRosecliff
34 mi Stadium & arenaMohegan Sun ArenaThe Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · Marble House: [email protected], Public domain · The Elms: The original uploader was Daderot at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Rosecliff: n ole, CC BY 2.0 · Mohegan Sun Arena: Bbjeter, CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of New Shoreham; the nearest are
About 0 of every 100 New Shoreham residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across Rhode Island.
1,051 counted in 2010 and 1,410 in 2020; an estimated 1,408 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
7 places in New Shoreham on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Rhode Island, United States
Block Island is an island of the Outer Lands coastal archipelago in New England, located approximately 9 miles (14 km) south of mainland Rhode Island and 14 miles (23 km) east of Long Island's Montauk Point. The island is coterminous with the town of New Shoreham, Rhode Island, and is part of Washington County. The island is named after Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, and the town was named for Shoreham, West Sussex, in England. Block Island is a popular summer tourist destination known for its bicycling, hiking, sailing, fishing, surfing and beaches. It is home to the historic lighthouses Block Island North Light, on the northern tip of the island, and Block Island Southeast Light, on the so…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
10.4 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Rhode Island town.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $1,824,000, 259% above the Rhode Island typical home and up 4.4% in a year. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
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