Which Rhode Island counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 5 Rhode Island counties we have scored, Kent County scores highest at 90 and Bristol County lowest at 86. Rhode Island ranks 16th of 50 overall, at 89 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 6 to 9 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 5 counties · 202 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsRhode Island ranks 16th of 50, 89 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #12 and #17. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Rhode Island, best score first


Kent → 1016 people / sq mi	90	24	19	13	14	12	8
Newport → 818 people / sq mi	90	25	17	14	15	13	6
Washington → 395 people / sq mi	90	24	18	13	14	12	9
Providence → 1613 people / sq mi	88	25	18	13	14	12	6
Bristol → 2083 people / sq mi	86	25	16	13	14	12	6

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

96% of Rhode Island's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Kent, Newport and Washington. The weakest are Bristol, Providence and Kent. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and growing food (season, soil and water for crops).

What separates them

Buildability: Washington County scores 9 of 10, Bristol County 6. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Legal: Kent County scores 19 of 20, Bristol County 16. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.

Solar, Hazard, Food and Water barely move across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Food is Rhode Island's weakest dimension, at 12 of 15 for the state as a whole. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $35k to $82k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Rhode Island row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Rhode Island

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Rhode Island? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsRhode Island: 89 of 100, 16th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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