Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Rhode Island

Little Compton, Rhode Island

Little Compton is a tourist town of about 3,500 people in Newport County, Rhode Island. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 5.8 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Providence, is about 26 miles away as the crow flies.

Tourist town

Population
3,535
down 2.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$783,400
Newport County prices up 27% since 2022
Household income
$134,750
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Providence area
101.8
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
7 miles
Newport, RI
To Providence
26 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 1.8% above the U.S. average in the Providence-Warwick metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 5.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 6.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Middletown High School, about 6 miles away.
  • A hospital close byNewport Hospital in Newport, about 7 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityProvidence is about 26 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Little Compton meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

Tourist town. About 1 in 3 homes is a vacation or seasonal home, a sign of a visitor economy. More restaurants, shops and weekend events than locals alone could support, with the small-town basics intact.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$783,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 27%Newport County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$134,750U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
94%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,696 a yearRhode Island: $4,900
Homes built before 1940
21%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
11%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
31%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
101.8U.S. average = 100 (the Providence-Warwick metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 27% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Providence-Warwick metro area, not Little Compton alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
3,5352020: 3,613
Median age
60.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
39%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
13%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
60%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (28%); professional and business services (12%); finance, insurance and real estate (11%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
34 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
20%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
3%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Newport Hospital, Newport, RI, about 7 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Little Compton, run by Little Compton. The nearest public high school is Middletown High School, about 6 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Rhode Island's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
91%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
98%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
24°F
July average high
80°F
Days 90°F or hotter
2 a year
Nights at or below freezing
98 a year
Rain and melted snow
49.4 inches a year
Snow
38 inches a year
Elevation
74 feet

Weather stations: Newport State Ap (6 miles away) and Tiverton (9 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Newport Hospital, Fall River, Providence.

Newport County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Little Compton Common Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park15 miles
  • Roger Williams National Memorial26 miles
  • Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park28 miles
  • Adams National Historical Park53 miles
  • Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area54 miles

Read about Little Compton's history on Wikipedia.

Know Little Compton?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.