KINGSTON, R.I.—SEPT. 15, 2025—A new public opinion poll from researchers at the University of Rhode Island finds that 93% of Rhode Islanders believe that housing costs are a problem; yet, when it comes to solutions, opinions are divided. The poll is the third from the Rhode Island Survey Initiative, led by URI’s Harrington School of Communication and Media; Social Science Institute for Research, Education, and Policy; and Department of Political Science.

The annual poll surveyed a representative sample of 500 Rhode Island residents ages 18 and older between Aug. 1 and Aug. 18, 2025. Administered by the polling firm YouGov via the internet, survey participants were chosen from YouGov’s opt-in survey panel of Rhode Island residents. The margin of error for the poll is +/- 6.01%.

“In addition to core questions, each year the Rhode Island Survey Initiative selects one major theme for in-depth study,” said Ashlea Rundlett, URI associate professor of political science, who was a member of the research team. “Given rising costs and the lack of affordable and available housing across the state for people at many income levels, this year we felt it pertinent to explore Rhode Islanders’ opinions on the topic.”

The most popular solutions to Rhode Island’s housing crisis were to focus on using what already exists—repairing existing affordable units (90%) and turning vacant or underused buildings into housing (87%). Rhode Islanders also support rent stabilization (72%), including caps on annual increases, and expanding voucher programs (64%). But when it comes to support for building different types of housing and where it should be located, opinions were decidedly mixed.

While Rhode Islanders broadly support every type of housing at the state level (between 73% and 81%), their level of support dropped significantly as those solutions got closer to home. For example, 42% said they would support new single-family, market-rate homes in their own neighborhood, while only 21% supported public housing and 17% supported homeless shelters. However, 65% stated they support sanctioning towns that attempt to block affordable housing.

“Across the board, we see comfort with public solutions, particularly when it comes to the state directly increasing housing stock. However, they’re less supportive of changing zoning rules to allow for more housing to be built. In 2025, respondents’ priorities shifted away from housing— the number one priority of 2024— to healthcare,” said Rundlett. “While the survey didn’t go in-depth into healthcare solutions, respondents were open to a variety of policy approaches to address the primary care shortage.”

In addition to perceptions on Rhode Island’s housing problem, the survey also questioned Rhode Islanders on top priorities to be addressed by Gov. McKee and the General Assembly; the extent to which the Washington Bridge closure has affected their lives; opinions on how best to address the state’s primary care shortage; as well as who they would be most likely to vote for in the Democratic primary for governor. 

Among the key findings are:

Key priorities/quality of life

When asked about key priorities for the governor and General Assembly, health care surged as the top priority with 62% of respondents naming it as one of the most important issues—up sharply from 42% in 2024. It was the top priority for Democrats, Republicans and independents.

Housing (51%) and roads/bridges (41%) continued to rank high in 2025—essentially unchanged from last year. Education (35%) and crime (25%) also held steady as mid-tier concerns. Environmental issues split, with clean energy falling from 15% last year to 9% this year, while protecting the environment rose from 17% to 21%.

Satisfaction with quality of life in the Ocean State held steady from last year’s survey, with 53% saying they are somewhat or very satisfied with the overall quality of life in Rhode Island, virtually unchanged from 52% in 2024.

Similarly, 22% said they believe the state of the Rhode Island economy was somewhat strong or very strong—the same as in 2024.

A majority of respondents (65%) said that the Washington Bridge closure has affected their lives to a small extent or not at all, whereas 32% say that the bridge has affected their lives to some extent or to a great extent.

Primary care shortage

In addressing the primary-care doctor shortage, 75% of respondents somewhat support or strongly support creating a public medical school at URI to train more primary care doctors. This was respondents’ most favored approach listed, though all approaches received more than 50% support.

Other approaches included: providing loan-forgiveness incentives to encourage primary care doctor graduates to stay and work in Rhode Island (70% support); permanently increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care doctors (62%); and offering state-subsidized housing for primary care doctors doing their residency in Rhode Island (64% support).

Democratic primary

Among self-identified Democrats and independents who are registered to vote, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee ranked highest (18.5%) in a four-way match-up with Attorney General Peter Neronha (15%), former president of CVS Pharmacy Helena Foulkes (14.3%), and House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (7.3%), with 4.25% naming other candidates. However, a remarkably high percentage of voters (40.6%) have not yet decided. Researchers note that all candidates are within the margin of error with one another in this survey.

Trust in government/politics

Trust in state and local government has held steady over the past two years, with roughly 60% of respondents expressing a fair amount or a great deal of trust in both. By contrast, trust in the federal government has slipped noticeably in 2025, with 39% having a fair amount or a great deal of trust in the federal government, compared with 54% in 2024.

Notably, 81% of Rhode Islanders stated they believe political violence is somewhat of a problem or a very big problem—the same as last year.

Media usage

Television remains the most common way respondents said they get political news, with 56% saying they watch always or often in 2025, nearly identical to last year. Use of print (19% always/often, down from 21% in 2024), and radio (23%, down from 26%), all dipped slightly. News websites/apps saw a larger decline from 55% to 44%.

Rhode Islanders’ use of social media to get political or election news remained fairly consistent between 2024 and 2025. While most people read political content, far fewer post or share it.  Facebook and YouTube remain the leading sites for political news, essentially unchanged year-to-year (around 40-44% for each). Instagram use dropped from 33% to 28%, while TikTok rose from 23% to 27%. Approximately 5% of respondents say they use Truth Social on a typical day. However, 26% say they don’t use social media for news at all, up from 21% in 2024.

“While there are national polls that also focus on housing, our survey results offer a detailed picture of Rhode Islanders’ perceptions of the housing crisis and their support for various solutions, as well as media use, trust in government, the economy, quality of life, and other issues pertinent to the Ocean State,” said Julie Keller, URI associate professor of sociology and director of the Social Science Institute for Research, Education, and Policy. “Our third annual survey offers much more than just a glimpse of where Rhode Islanders stand on these issues, and we’re thrilled to be sharing these results with the public.”

About the survey

The Rhode Island Survey Initiative was launched in 2023 by a team of researchers from the University of Rhode Island’s Harrington School of Communication and Media; URI’s Social Science Institute for Research, Education, and Policy; and the URI Department of Political Science, with plans to conduct at least one survey of Rhode Island residents each year. Each poll includes a different focus area, with some repeated questions to gauge the change in attitudes of Rhode Island residents. RISI is supported by URI’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Harrington School of Communication and Media. RISI also receives additional support from the John Hazen White Sr. Center for Ethics and Public Service.

Keller says the survey initiative reflects the institute’s goal of providing evidence-based insights to communities across Rhode Island.

To learn more, or to view the report in its entirety, visit the Rhode Island Survey Initiative.

Note about methodology

Party identification was constructed using the seven-point scale in which self-identified Democrats and independent-leaning Democrats were combined into the “Democrat” category; self-identified Republicans and independent-leaning Republicans were combined into the “Republican” category; and independents are in the “Independent” category.