Section 8 Housing in Rhode Island
17,914 active Housing Choice Vouchers across 1 market. Rent limits, housing authorities, waitlist status, and voucher rights for every metro in Rhode Island.
Can a landlord refuse Section 8 in Rhode Island?
No. Rhode Island law prohibits landlords from refusing a renter because they pay with a Section 8 voucher. That protection applies in Rhode Island. If you were turned away for having a voucher, that refusal may be illegal.
Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act, R.I. Gen. Laws §34-37 (amended 2021)
Lawful source of income added as a protected class in 2021. PRRAC Appendix B (March 2026).
View statute →Informational only, not legal advice. Laws change, so verify current status before acting on a rejection or making a leasing decision.
Local voucher discrimination laws in Rhode Island
Rhode Island protects voucher holders statewide. These cities and counties also have their own ordinance, which can add a local agency to complain to.
- ProvidenceProvidence Code of Ordinances §16-55 (2021) · in effect since 2021
Source: PRRAC, Appendix B: State, Local, and Federal Laws Barring Source of Income Discrimination (updated March 2026), plus the ordinances linked above. Informational only, not legal advice.
Landlord and investor tools for Rhode Island
RentalCalcsFree calculators and guides from RentalCalcs, built by the VoucherMatch team, for landlords deciding whether to accept vouchers.
- Section 8 rent analyzerHUD rent benchmarks and modeled comparisons for Rhode Island ZIP codes. Confirm adopted amounts with the agency.
- Compare HUD benchmarks with market rent in Rhode IslandExplore modeled ZIP comparisons; these do not establish an approved rent or agency payment.
- Average rent in Rhode IslandMarket rent versus HUD fair market rent by city and bedroom count.
- How Section 8 rent is calculatedFair market rent, payment standards and rent reasonableness, step by step.
- Section 8 landlord math for 2026What the payment standard changes mean for cash flow this year.
All Section 8 markets in Rhode Island
Sorted by active voucher count. Each metro page has HUD Fair Market Rent by bedroom, the housing authorities that administer vouchers there, and waitlist status.
Section 8 by county in Rhode Island
County pages show the local voucher count, housing authorities, and metro rollup. Useful when you are looking at a specific address.
Section 8 in Rhode Island: common questions
- Can a landlord refuse Section 8 in Rhode Island?
- No. Rhode Island law prohibits landlords from refusing a renter because they pay with a Section 8 voucher. That protection applies in Rhode Island. If you were turned away for having a voucher, that refusal may be illegal.
- Which Rhode Island cities and counties have their own voucher discrimination law?
- Providence has a local source-of-income ordinance on file. The ordinance and its citation are listed on this page.
- How many Section 8 vouchers are there in Rhode Island?
- HUD data shows about 17,914 Housing Choice Vouchers across the 1 Rhode Island market we track, administered by 28 housing authorities statewide.
- How do I apply for Section 8 in Rhode Island?
- You apply to a local housing authority, not to the state or to HUD. Each of Rhode Island's housing authorities runs its own waitlist and opens it on its own schedule, and applying is always free. Pick your metro or county on this page to see the housing authorities that serve it and their current waitlist status.
Find Section 8 apartments in Rhode Island
VoucherMatch connects voucher holders with landlords who accept Section 8, and it is free for renters. The administering housing authority must approve the actual unit, rent and household assistance calculation.