Average Rent in Rhode Island (2026) — HUD Fair Market Rents
The average two-bedroom rent in Rhode Island is $1,761 per month by HUD's FY 2026 Fair Market Rent data (population-weighted); two-bedroom FMRs range from $1,721 to $2,314 across 3 rent areas.
Fair Market Rent is HUD's annual estimate of what a modest rental costs in each local market — the 40th percentile of gross rents (rent plus tenant-paid utilities) for recent movers, published for studio through four-bedroom units and used to set Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher payment standards. FMRs are a federal benchmark, not an asking-rent average: use them to sanity-check your pricing (statewide, Rhode Island's typical two-bedroom FMR moved +7.0% versus FY 2025).
Note: in Rhode Island, as in the rest of New England, HUD defines rent areas by town (county subdivision) rather than by county — expand an area's town list to find yours.
All 3 Rhode Island FMR areas
Sorted by two-bedroom rent, highest first. 3 metro areas; the rest are non-metro town areas. "vs FY 2025" is the two-bedroom change from last year's FMR for the same area.
| Area | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR | 2 BR vs FY 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Newport-Middleton-Portsmouth, RI HUD Metro FMR Area Metro 3 townsMiddletown town · Newport city · Portsmouth town | $1,752 | $1,764 | $2,314 | $3,131 | $3,595 | +5.2% |
Providence-Fall River, RI-MA HUD Metro FMR Area Metro 33 townsBarrington town · Bristol town · Burrillville town · Central Falls city · Charlestown town · Coventry town · Cranston city · Cumberland town · East Greenwich town · East Providence city · Exeter town · Foster town · Glocester town · Jamestown town · Johnston town · Lincoln town · Little Compton town · Narragansett town · North Kingstown town · North Providence town · North Smithfield town · Pawtucket city · Providence city · Richmond town · Scituate town · Smithfield town · South Kingstown town · Tiverton town · Warren town · Warwick city · West Greenwich town · West Warwick town · Woonsocket city | $1,318 | $1,402 | $1,729 | $2,087 | $2,480 | +7.1% |
Westerly-Hopkinton-New Shoreham, RI HUD Metro FMR Area Metro 3 townsHopkinton town · New Shoreham town · Westerly town | $1,353 | $1,362 | $1,721 | $2,146 | $2,326 | +9.2% |
Download this table as CSV — every area, studio through 4-bedroom, with town lists and year-over-year change.
About this data
Source: HUD FY 2026 Fair Market Rents, county-level file (revised), published at huduser.gov — a U.S. government work in the public domain, republished here unmodified. The typical-rent figure is the population-weighted average across the areas above (county populations from HUD's file); year-over-year comparisons match each area with last year's file by HUD area code. Effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026; last regenerated from HUD's file on 2026-07-20. FMRs cap what a housing authority can pay under the voucher program; your local Public Housing Authority's payment standard may be set between 90% and 110% of FMR. Full method notes: how the rent figures are computed.
Related on Landlord Atlas
- Rhode Island landlord-tenant laws — security deposits, rent increase notice, late fees, and entry rules, cited to statute.
- Rental profitability calculator — test a Rhode Island property's cash flow against its county's FMR.
- Rent increase notice creator — moving rent toward market? Generate a state-aware notice.