Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Richmond grades A overall, 12th of 38 graded towns in Rhode Island. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 95% of the country. The median household earns $125K and it reports less crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns. What holds it back is price: the typical home is worth about $524K, 6 years of the Providence metro’s $87K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 6 places on the National Register. 34% of the land in Richmond is conserved, above both the Rhode Island town median (11%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is Arcadia Management Area, 1,478 acres with 8.2 miles of trail. Among 38 Rhode Island towns, just 2 have a higher average trip to work than Richmond.
Where Richmond beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Richmond | RI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.6% | 15.1% |
Wyoming Village Historic District
Census counts: 1,760 in 1790, a low of 1,301 in 1920, 8,020 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1873 and 3 maps from 1947 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Rhode Island), ordered by how far Richmond is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Richmond. Close and well known come first.
Big draw19 mi MuseumThe Breakers
Big draw39 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
18 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
30 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
19 mi MuseumMarble House
19 mi MuseumThe ElmsThe Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · Marble House: [email protected], Public domain · The Elms: The original uploader was Daderot at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Richmond, 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 Richmond.
Richmond reports less crime than Hopkinton or any other graded neighbor, keeps more of its land conserved than most of Rhode Island and has cooler summers than most of the country, though not than most of Rhode Island.
Its 8,831 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 95% of Rhode Island towns.
59 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. Richmond’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile, above both Rhode Island’s towns (0.8) and U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Arcadia Management Area | 8.2 mi | 1,478 |
| 2. Crawley Preserve | 2.1 mi | 84 |
| 3. Grass Pond Preserve | 1.2 mi | 183 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Chariho school district. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Chariho High School, with 991 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chariho Regional Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 834 | B |
| Chariho High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 991 | A− |
| Richmond Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 371 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within RI on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Rhode Island is food insecurity: 7.6% of its 2,583 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.1% statewide.
16% of Richmond adults get no exercise outside work. Among 38 Rhode Island towns, just 1 have a higher share of adults who binge drink than Richmond. 9.9% of Richmond adults smoke cigarettes.
| Richmond | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 34% | 33% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 22% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.3% | 10% | 12% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Richmond | RI |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.6% | 15.1% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.3% | 8.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.5% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Hopkinton (A) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.1 per 1,000 residents.
Only 2 of the 35 Rhode Island towns we compare have a lower violent crime rate than Richmond. The property crime rate in Richmond is 2.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Richmond | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.6 per 1,000 residents | 5.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.1 per 1,000 residents | 0.6 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The average commute for its 3,966 working residents takes 34 minutes, against 25.5 across Rhode Island.
Most working residents leave Richmond for work: only 9% work in town. 3.2% of residents live below the poverty line in Richmond. Since 2013, Richmond has added 179 jobs, to 2,236 in 2023.
| Richmond | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $125,000 | $103,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.2% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.3% | 12% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons average 82.3°: cooler than most of the country, but hotter than 76% of Rhode Island places with climate records; January nights average 20.5°.
Richmond has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. About 35 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Richmond | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 82°F | 82°F | 85°F |
| January low | 21°F | 22°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 27 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Richmond.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
No town among the 38 in Rhode Island we compare has a higher share of households owning their home than Richmond. Richmond’s median rent is $1,580 a month. The typical Richmond home is worth about $524,000, up 3.2% in a year, close to the Rhode Island typical home.
| Richmond | Rhode Island towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 97% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,580 a month | $1,366 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Richmond
About 7 of every 100 Richmond residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Rhode Island.
Where Richmond’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Richmond on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Rhode Island, United States
Richmond is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 8,020 at the 2020 census. It contains the villages of Alton, Arcadia, Barberville, Carolina, Hillsdale, Kenyon, Shannock, Tug Hollow, Usquepaug, Wood River Junction, Woodville, and Wyoming. Students from the Town of Richmond are part of the Chariho Regional School District, a school district shared between Charlestown and Hopkinton, Rhode Island.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Richmond.
It grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; South Kingstown (A) comes closest.
| Town | RI rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | #12 | A | D | A | B+ | A+ |
| Hopkinton | #17 | A− | C | A | B+ | A |
| Charlestown | #16 | A | C | A− | B+ | A |
| South Kingstown | #13 | A | D | A | B+ | A |
| Hope Valley | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Carolina | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Exeter | #18 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
Exeter reports no FBI crime data of its own. Hope Valley, Carolina and Wyoming aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Richmond with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Richmond grades A overall, better than 89% of U.S. towns and #12 of 38 in Rhode Island. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
2 notable people were born here, including Frank J. Williams and Thomas Alexander Tefft.
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