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US State economic profile
Rhode Island - Economic Profile
Statistics, economic information and rankings for the Ocean State
In 2026, the state of Rhode Island has a population of 1,126,444, having grown an annualized 0.5% over the five years to 2026, which ranks it 28th out of all 50 US states by growth rate. Rhode Island's gross state product (GSP) in 2026 reached $64.5b, with growth of 1.3% over the 5 years to 2026. Businesses in Rhode Island employed a total of 597,323 people in 2026, with average annual employment growth over the past five years of 1.6%. The top three sectors by total employment are Real Estate & Rental & Leasing, Healthcare & Social Assistance, Professional, Scientific & Technical Services, while the unemployment rate across the state in 2026 was 5.5%.
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State economic profile
Rhode Island Economic Overview
$64.5b
Gross state product
1,126,444
Population
134,050
Businesses
What is Rhode Island's Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?
In 2026, Rhode Island's GDP reached $64.5b, representing an increase of 1.3% from 2025. Rhode Island's GDP has grown at an annualized rate of 1.1% over the five years to 2026. Moreover, Rhode Island's trailing five-year GDP growth ranks it 47th out of all 50 US states.
State GDP, or Gross State Product, is a measurement of a state's output, or the sum of value added from all industries in the state. It is a common indicator used to track the health of a state's economy.
You can track trends in Rhode Island's GDP, and compare them to the national average, using the chart below.
State economic profile
Rhode Island Industry Trends
Learn about current trends affecting the most significant industries for Rhode Island's state economy, down to the county level. IBISWorld offers state industry research reports on over 30,000 industries across all 50 states in the US, including 608 industries in Rhode Island.
What are Rhode Island's Largest Industries by Revenue?
The largest industries by revenue in Rhode Island are Third-Party Administrators & Insurance Claims Adjusters, Commercial Banking and Health & Medical Insurance, which generated $18.7b, $9.9b and $8.9b in 2026.
| Industry | 2026 revenue | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Third-Party Administrators & Insurance Claims Adjusters | $18.7b |
| 2. | Commercial Banking | $9.9b |
| 3. | Health & Medical Insurance | $8.9b |
| 4. | Property, Casualty & Direct Insurance | $7.3b |
| 5. | Colleges & Universities | $6.9b |
| 6. | Public Schools | $6.5b |
| 7. | Hospitals | $5.2b |
| 8. | Wholesale Trade Agents & Brokers | $3.4b |
| 9. | New Car Dealers | $3.4b |
| 10. | Supermarkets & Grocery Stores | $2.9b |
State economic profile
Top Companies in Rhode Island
Learn about current trends affecting the top companies in Rhode Island. IBISWorld offers benchmarking data and tools on over 5,000 companies in the US.
Top 10 Companies Headquartered in Rhode Island by Employment
The largest companies by employment in Rhode Island are Lifespan Health System, Cvs Health and Care New England Health System, which employed 13,715, 9,047 and 7,501 people in 2026.
| Company | 2026 employment | Share of employment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lifespan Health System | 13,715 | 2.3% |
| 2. | Cvs Health | 9,047 | 1.5% |
| 3. | Care New England Health System | 7,501 | 1.3% |
| 4. | Roman Catholic Diosese of Providence | 7,500 | 1.3% |
| 5. | Brown University | 5,490 | 0.9% |
| 6. | Amazon.Com | 3,000 | 0.5% |
| 7. | Walmart | 2,629 | 0.4% |
| 8. | United States Postal Service | 2,170 | 0.4% |
| 9. | Home Depot | 1,694 | 0.3% |
| 10. | Target | 965 | 0.2% |
State economic profile
Rhode Island Sector Statistics
In Rhode Island, certain sectors drive a higher share of state GDP and employ more workers than others. However, simply looking at raw numbers doesn't always tell the whole story. Factoring in the current year growth percentage, in addition to the annualized growth percentage over the past five years, will give you a deeper understanding of the economic situation.
What is Rhode Island's GDP by Sector?
The Real Estate & Rental & Leasing, Healthcare & Social Assistance and Professional, Scientific & Technical Services sectors contributed the most to Rhode Island's GDP in 2026, representing a combined 41.1% of state GDP.
GDP trends by sector are an important indicator of which sectors are contributing the most value-add to the state economy, in addition to how the state economy is evolving over time.
| Sector | GDP | Growth 2026 | Annualized growth 2021-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Estate & Rental & Leasing | 11,092,197,445 | 4.7% | 5.1% |
| Healthcare & Social Assistance | 7,262,734,247 | 3.4% | 3.8% |
| Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 6,009,092,047 | 6.5% | 6.7% |
| Finance & Insurance | 5,464,338,966 | -0.9% | -0.9% |
| Retail Trade | 4,412,786,549 | 4.3% | 3.9% |
| Manufacturing | 4,394,099,479 | -1.3% | -1.7% |
| Accommodation & Food Services | 2,872,915,026 | 3.8% | 3.3% |
| Wholesale Trade | 2,645,631,647 | -3.4% | -3.8% |
| Administration, Business Support and Waste Management Services | 2,378,735,195 | 2.8% | 3.1% |
| Information | 2,217,071,842 | 5.3% | 5.4% |
| Educational Services | 2,109,664,651 | 2.1% | 2.9% |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 1,931,618,735 | -4.5% | -5.3% |
| Construction | 1,881,974,058 | -2.7% | -3.4% |
| Utilities | 1,334,088,054 | 7.1% | 7.5% |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 1,182,225,448 | -0.7% | -0.1% |
| Transportation & Warehousing | 1,149,201,640 | 2.1% | 2.5% |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 709,831,251 | 6.9% | 7.8% |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting | 117,380,348 | 0.5% | 1.0% |
| Mining | 103,900,226 | 14.2% | 13.4% |
What is Rhode Island's Employment by Sector?
The Healthcare & Social Assistance, Educational Services and Retail Trade sectors contributed the most to employment in Rhode Island in 2026, representing a combined 41.6% of state employment.
Employment trends by sector are an important indicator of which sectors are growing or contracting most rapidly relative to the state economy as a whole.
| Sector | Employment | Growth 2026 | Annualized growth 2021-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare & Social Assistance | 99,998 | 1.6% | 2.0% |
| Educational Services | 85,216 | -0.0% | 1.9% |
| Retail Trade | 63,175 | 0.7% | 1.6% |
| Accommodation & Food Services | 54,362 | 0.4% | 4.2% |
| Manufacturing | 43,846 | 0.3% | 2.4% |
| Professional, Scientific & Technical Services | 37,959 | 1.1% | 2.9% |
| Finance & Insurance | 35,248 | 1.6% | 0.9% |
| Construction | 32,381 | 1.2% | 3.3% |
| Transportation & Warehousing | 31,866 | 3.3% | 3.1% |
| Administration, Business Support and Waste Management Services | 30,949 | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 22,891 | 0.7% | 2.4% |
| Wholesale Trade | 19,844 | 0.5% | -0.7% |
| Real Estate & Rental & Leasing | 13,311 | 0.6% | 1.7% |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 12,831 | 2.3% | 7.2% |
| Information | 9,586 | 4.6% | 2.5% |
| Utilities | 2,562 | 1.3% | 1.8% |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting | 1,045 | -1.3% | -3.6% |
| Mining | 253 | -0.4% | -2.4% |
State economic profile
Rhode Island Employment Trends
597.3k
Employment
5.5%
Unemployment
What Employment Trends are Impacting Rhode Island?
The state of Rhode Island employs 597,323 people in 2026, which ranks it 44th out of all 50 US states. Employment in Rhode Island has grown at an annualized rate of 2.2% over the five years to 2026, overperforming the national average of 1.7%. Major sectors by employment in Rhode Island include Healthcare & Social Assistance, Educational Services and Retail Trade, which employed 99,998, 85,216 and 63,175 people in 2026, respectively. Rhode Island's unemployment rate is 5.5% in 2026, which ranks it 46th out of all 50 US states. Rhode Island's unemployment rate has trended downwards at a rate of -0.5% over the five years to 2026, overperforming the US economy as a whole.
Employment trends indicate the degree of tightness or slack in labor markets, in addition to the overall strength of an economy. Faster employment growth typically indicates a strong and growing economy, while lower unemployment tends to imply tightness in labor markets.
You can track unemployment trends in Rhode Island, and compare them to the US economy, using the chart below.
$106.1k
Per capita disposable income
What is Rhode Island's Per Capita Disposable Income?
Per capita disposable income, also known as disposable personal income (DPI), is the amount of money that the average person in an economy has available for spending and saving after accounting for income taxes. Rhode Island's DPI in 2026 was $106.1k, compared to the US average of $156.5k, which places it 48th out of all 50 US states.
Disposable income is regarded as a key economic indicator as trends in disposable income are indicative of the level of aggregate demand, the state of labor markets and the financial strength of households.
You can track trends in Rhode Island's per capita disposable income, and compare it to the US average, using the chart below.
State economic profile
Rhode Island Construction & Building Trends
$1,618.2tn
Nonresidential construction
$393.5b
Residential construction
1,675
Building permits
What can construction trends tell you about a state’s economy?
In Rhode Island, non-residential construction was $1,618.2tn in 2026, which ranks it 35th out of all 50 US states. Residential construction was $393.5b in 2026, which places Rhode Island 25th out of all 50 US states. The number of building permits issued in Rhode Island in 2026 was 1,675, representing a 2.2% annualized growth rate between 2021 and 2026.
Trends in the construction sector are important because it creates jobs, income and tax revenue for a state. In addition, construction sector activity impacts other sectors in its supply chain, including manufacturing, wholesaling, warehousing, transportation, and real estate, rental and leasing services. Therefore, construction trends are important indicators of the health of an economy.
You can track trends in the number of building permits issued in Rhode Island, and compare it to trends in the number issued in the United States as a whole, using the chart below.
State economic profile
Rhode Island Population Statistics
Which Counties in Rhode Island have the Largest Populations?
The counties with the highest populations in Rhode Island are Providence County, Kent County and Washington County, which had populations of 664,500, 172,046 and 129,570 people in 2026.
| Region | 2026 population | Annual growth 2021-26 | Share of population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providence | 664.5k | 0.2% | 59.0% |
| Kent | 172.0k | 0.1% | 15.3% |
| Washington | 129.6k | -0.1% | 11.5% |
| Newport | 81.9k | -0.8% | 7.3% |
| Bristol | 49.9k | -0.3% | 4.4% |
State economic profile
Rhode Island Demographics
In Rhode Island, 39.6% of the population has a Bachelors or higher. The largest ethnic group in Rhode Island is White, accounting for 66.4% of the state's population.
Education level in Rhode Island
| Education level | Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Bachelors or higher | 39.6 |
| Other | 60.4 |
Race in Rhode Island
| Race | Share (%) |
|---|---|
| White | 66.4 |
| Hispanic | 19.9 |
| Black | 6.7 |
| Asian | 4.0 |
| Other | 2.9 |
Rhode Island State industry reports
IBISWorld State Industry Reports help you quickly understand how an industry performs at the state level compared with the national level, with accurate and unbiased industry information with a local focus. Use this collection to:
- Discover key local industry trends
- Identify threats and opportunities at the subnational level
- Inform your business strategies and planning
See our list of 608 Rhode Island industry reports.
Other states to explore
Compare Rhode Island’s economy with other states in the United States.
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