Updated May 2026
Flood Risk in Rhode Island
Rhode Island sits in the middle of the U.S. flood-risk distribution with an average composite score of 16. 0 of 6 counties carry an F grade, and the state has logged 77 NFIP claims to date — meaningful volume, mostly concentrated in a few river-adjacent or low-lying regions rather than spread evenly.
Grade Distribution Across Rhode Island
The grade mix is dominated by A — 100% of counties — meaning the typical place in this state has very low historical flood loss. The handful of B/C/D/F counties below define where risk is concentrated.
How Rhode Island Compares Nationally
The U.S. county-level average composite score is 12. Rhode Island sits at 16, which is 4 points above the national average — meaningfully more flood-exposed than the typical U.S. state. 43 federal flood-related disaster declarations across 6 counties is one of the highest counts in the dataset — about 7.2 per county. Most counties have lived through multiple federally declared floods.
For full national context — every state ranked by average score and total claims — see the all-states overview. The riskiest-counties ranking and highest-payouts ranking drill into where loss is concentrated. Real-time stream-gauge readings are at USGS Water Data.
Riskiest in Rhode Island
| County | Grade | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Kent | A | 19 |
| Providence | A | 19 |
| Washington | A | 19 |
| Newport | A | 17 |
| Bristol | A | 14 |
Safest in Rhode Island
| County | Grade | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide | A | 10 |
| Bristol | A | 14 |
| Newport | A | 17 |
| Kent | A | 19 |
| Providence | A | 19 |
How Rhode Island's Risk Is Calculated
Every county in Rhode Island is scored on the same four factors that drive every county nationwide: NFIP claims density (40%), federally declared flood-disaster frequency (25%), average claim severity (20%), and year-over-year trend (15%). Source data comes from the public FEMA flood-mapping program and OpenFEMA endpoints. Detailed weighting math, plus the data's known limitations (county-level granularity, NFIP-participation bias, historical bias), is on the methodology page.
All 6 Counties in Rhode Island
Sorted by flood risk score, highest to lowest.
| # | County | Grade | Score | Claims | Payouts | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent | A | 19 | 18 | $714,401 | 8 |
| 2 | Providence | A | 19 | 21 | $1,567,363 | 7 |
| 3 | Washington | A | 19 | 11 | $406,655 | 8 |
| 4 | Newport | A | 17 | 17 | $610,380 | 8 |
| 5 | Bristol | A | 14 | 10 | $103,363 | 8 |
| 6 | Statewide | A | 10 | 0 | $0 | 4 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average flood risk score in Rhode Island?
Rhode Island's average composite flood risk score is 16 on a 0–100 scale, computed as the mean of all 6 county scores. That is 4 points above the U.S. county-level average of 12. Score components: 40% claims density, 25% disaster frequency, 20% claim severity, 15% trend.
Which counties in Rhode Island have the highest flood risk?
The riskiest county in Rhode Island is Kent with a composite score of 19 (grade A). The next four — Providence, Washington, Newport, Bristol — round out the top-five most exposed places in the state.
How many NFIP flood-insurance claims has Rhode Island filed?
FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program shows 77 claims on file from Rhode Island, with combined payouts of $3,402,162 across the dataset. 5 of the state's 6 counties have at least one NFIP claim recorded.
Are FEMA flood maps the same as your risk score?
No. The flood risk score on this page is a county-wide composite drawn from claims, disasters, severity, and trend. FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs, available at fema.gov/flood-maps) are parcel-level zone designations based on hydrologic modeling. The two answer different questions; serious decisions about insurance or building should use both, plus real-time hydrology from USGS Water Data.
When was the Rhode Island data last updated?
These figures were refreshed from the OpenFEMA API on 2026-05-16. FEMA itself publishes new NFIP claims on a quarterly cycle, so the data may lag actual events by up to three months.
Flood risk profile for Rhode Island: 6 counties, 77 NFIP claims, average composite score 16.
The this entity record above pulls directly from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. flood risk, NFIP claims, and disaster declarations distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.
Every number on this page links back to FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.