(WPRI) — Rhode Island ranked 18th in the nation in revenue and 17th in expenditures in the 2023 Fiscal Year, according to the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council’s 2025 Taxing and Spending Report.
The report compares the Ocean State with the rest of the country and breaks down both revenue and expenses per capita and per $1,000 of personal income.
Revenue
According to RIPEC, Rhode Island ranked in the top 10 for federal aid in FY 2023 — up from FY 2018 — “due to a high share of pandemic relief funding still available” in 2023.
Rhode Island dropped in the rankings for state and local tax revenues compared to the previous report. RIPEC attributes that decline to property taxes, which increased by only 1.5% per capita over the five-year span between reports. (Despite that minimal increase, the state still ranks among the top 10 for property taxes.)
Expenses
RIPEC’s report revealed that education and social services each make up around a third of the state’s spending.
Rhode Island also outranks the rest of New England in terms of public safety spending and government administration spending — the Ocean State ranks 5th in the nation per capita in both categories.
On the other end of the spectrum, Rhode Island’s parks and recreation spending ranked second lowest per capita. The only state that spent less on parks and recreation per capita in FY 2023 was Maine, which invested only $79 per resident.
Read the full report below. Those interested can also compare the data with past years and other states on RIPEC’s Data Dashboard.
2025_How_RI_ComparesDownload
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