This database contains information on all 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island, including life expectancy and other population health indicators, social and economic conditions, environmental characteristics, demographic information, crime, and other information. You can download the entire data set or filter the data for your own analysis.
Rhode Island’s nickname is the Ocean State for good reason. For a state less than 40 miles wide, Rhode Island has over 400 miles of coastline, offering dozens of beaches and abundant aquatic resources during all seasons. Aside from access to beautiful Narragansett Bay and surrounding waters, Rhode Island has hundreds of inland lakes and ponds covering 20,749 acres, providing numerous recreational opportunities, critical habitats, and drinking water for Rhode Island residents and visitors. Rhode Island also offers a strong network of bike lanes and nature trails in the many state and municipal parks and preserves throughout the state.
| Top 5 cities and towns for miles of bike lanes and paths (for every 50 road miles) |
|
|---|---|
| Cranston | 4.5 |
| Narragansett | 4.3 |
| West Greenwich | 3.9 |
| Coventry | 3.4 |
| Charlestown | 3.2 |
| Top 5 most rural cities and towns (based on a composite rural-urban measure) |
|---|
| #1: New Shoreham |
| #2: Little Compton |
| #3: Richmond |
| #4: Charlestown |
| #5: Hopkinton |
Recreational opportunities and environmental conditions are important for the health and wellbeing of populations. Of the measures studied, only fast food and convenience store density was significantly related to life expectancy. The higher the life expectancy, the lower the fast food and convenience store density was (correlation = -0.348).
Environmental hazards can pose an issue for population health. A Superfund site is any place that has been previously contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA as a candidate for cleanup. South Kingstown and North Smithfield both have two Superfund sites in each town. Gloucester, Burrillville, North Kingstown, Newport, Smithfield, Cumberland, Lincoln, Johnston, and North Providence each have one Superfund site.