Cities with highest divorce rate in Rhode Island research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Rhode Island’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in Rhode Island based on the percentage of currently divorced residents. Here are the results of our analysis:
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The city with the highest divorce rate in Rhode Island is Ashaway based on the most recent Census data.
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Ashaway is 16.0% Divorced.
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The city with the lowest divorce rate in Rhode Island is Melville.
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Melville is 0.0% Divorced.
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Rhode Island is 6.0% Divorced.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
There are some 52,577 people living in Rhode Island over fifteen years of age who are divorced. You can compare that to the 28,339,199 Americans who are currently divorced in 2025.
Many people decide to run away – or split up – across the Ocean State.
Isn’t the divorce rate in America close to 50%? Yes indeed. But we’re measuring something else; we are looking at counts and percentages of people over 15 years old who are currently divorced. That 50% statistic is for the percentage of people who have ever been divorced.
For today’s analysis, the focus will be on the number of currently divorced people.
So now that we have you biting your nails, rethinking your worldview, and pulling out your hair, let’s look at the places in Rhode Island with the highest rates of divorcees.
The 10 Cities In Rhode Island With The Highest Divorce Rates
Let’s quickly recap before we dive into the Saturday Night Science behind the data.
What is the city in Rhode Island with the highest divorce rate? That would be Ashaway, with 16.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data.
What is the overall Rhode Island divorce rate? According to the 2019-2023 Community Survey, the overall divorce rate in Rhode Island is 6.0%, which compares to the US divorce rate of 10.9%.
Alrighty, on to how we calculated the places with the highest divorce rates in Rhode Island.
For more Rhode Island reading, check out:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Rhode Island
- Worst Places To Live In Rhode Island
- Richest Cities In Rhode Island
The 10 Places With The Highest Divorce Rate In Rhode Island For 2025
1. Ashaway
/10
Population: 1,682
Divorce Rate: 16.0%
Divorcees: 215
Median Income: $101,165
More on Ashaway:
2. Carolina
Population: 1,238
Divorce Rate: 10.0%
Divorcees: 99
Median Income: $123,063
More on Carolina:
/10
Population: 82,871
Divorce Rate: 9.0%
Divorcees: 5,966
Median Income: $87,536
More on Warwick: Data
4. Chepachet
/10
Population: 1,819
Divorce Rate: 9.0%
Divorcees: 130
Median Income: $95,423
More on Chepachet:
5. Harrisville
/10
Population: 1,816
Divorce Rate: 9.0%
Divorcees: 130
Median Income: $66,016
More on Harrisville:
6. Harmony
/10
Population: 1,094
Divorce Rate: 9.0%
Divorcees: 78
Median Income: $108,971
More on Harmony:
7. Bradford
/10
Population: 1,437
Divorce Rate: 8.0%
Divorcees: 91
Median Income: $108,295
More on Bradford:
/10
Population: 8,586
Divorce Rate: 8.0%
Divorcees: 549
Median Income: $94,567
More on Greenville: Data
/10
Population: 12,370
Divorce Rate: 7.0%
Divorcees: 692
Median Income: $93,653
More on Valley Falls: Data
/10
Population: 11,262
Divorce Rate: 7.0%
Divorcees: 630
Median Income: $86,310
More on Newport East: Data
How We Determined The Places In Rhode Island That Get Un-Hitched The Most
Since this is the 58th category of rankings we are compiling for the site, we had a pretty good idea of where to find data on marriage and divorce in America. We used Saturday Night Science to look at the U.S. Census Bureau on divorce rates. Because who likes tracking misery more than the U.S. government?
Specifically, we looked at the 2019-2023 American Community Survey table S1201 — Marital Status.
Pretty straightforward on that front — we just had to extract the following column of data:
- Population 15 Years and Over -> Divorced
There are some interesting/fun/sad data like .1% of female Americans aged 15-19 are divorced, but 0% of males (That’s probably a rounding issue, but still).
But the national data is for another day. Today, the analysis focuses on the 26 places in Rhode Island with a population of over 1,000.
We ranked each place by the percentage of divorcees over 15 years of age from highest to lowest. We crowned the divorce capital of Rhode Island the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Ashaway.
And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Melville, the city with the lowest divorce rate in Rhode Island.
We updated this article for 2025 and this list is our fifth time ranking the cities in Rhode Island with the highest divorce rates.
Getting Some Closure In Rhode Island After Untying The Know
Besides just coming up with what we thought would be a great new blog/book title, “Untying the Knot In Rhode Island: Life After Divorce,” we now have a sense of what places in the Ocean State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.
The cities with the highest divorce rate in Rhode Island are Ashaway, Carolina, Warwick, Chepachet, Harrisville, Harmony, Bradford, Greenville, Valley Falls, and Newport East.
Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in Rhode Island could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce.
And that’s probably for the best. Getting out of a toxic relationship is much better than staying in it.
Just make sure you have your running shoes ready to go.
For more Rhode Island reading, check out:
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Rhode Island
- Worst Places To Live In Rhode Island
- Richest Cities In Rhode Island
Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In Rhode Island
| Rank | City | Population | Divorcees | Divorce Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashaway, RI | 1,682 | 215 | 16.0% |
| 2 | Carolina, RI | 1,238 | 99 | 10.0% |
| 3 | Warwick, RI | 82,871 | 5,966 | 9.0% |
| 4 | Chepachet, RI | 1,819 | 130 | 9.0% |
| 5 | Harrisville, RI | 1,816 | 130 | 9.0% |
| 6 | Harmony, RI | 1,094 | 78 | 9.0% |
| 7 | Bradford, RI | 1,437 | 91 | 8.0% |
| 8 | Greenville, RI | 8,586 | 549 | 8.0% |
| 9 | Valley Falls, RI | 12,370 | 692 | 7.0% |
| 10 | Newport East, RI | 11,262 | 630 | 7.0% |
| 11 | Woonsocket, RI | 43,074 | 2,412 | 7.0% |
| 12 | East Providence, RI | 46,970 | 2,630 | 7.0% |
| 13 | Cranston, RI | 82,632 | 4,627 | 7.0% |
| 14 | Narragansett Pier, RI | 3,080 | 147 | 6.0% |
| 15 | Cumberland Hill, RI | 8,638 | 345 | 5.0% |
| 16 | Pascoag, RI | 4,081 | 163 | 5.0% |
| 17 | Pawtucket, RI | 75,280 | 3,011 | 5.0% |
| 18 | Westerly, RI | 18,528 | 592 | 4.0% |
| 19 | Newport, RI | 25,029 | 800 | 4.0% |
| 20 | Greene, RI | 1,009 | 32 | 4.0% |
| 21 | Central Falls, RI | 22,481 | 539 | 3.0% |
| 22 | Providence, RI | 190,214 | 3,043 | 2.0% |
| 23 | Kingston, RI | 6,953 | 55 | 1.0% |
| 24 | Tiverton, RI | 8,151 | 65 | 1.0% |
| 25 | Hope Valley, RI | 2,147 | 17 | 1.0% |
| 26 | Melville, RI | 1,840 | 0 | 0.0% |