Property Tax in Portsmouth, RI
This page is about Portsmouth, Rhode Island, on Aquidneck Island -- the second-oldest municipality in Rhode Island, founded in 1638, and not to be confused with Portsmouth, New Hampshire or Portsmouth, Virginia. It also is not Newport or Middletown, its neighbors on the same island, each of which has its own separate coverage on this site. Here is the confirmed rate: per the Rhode Island Division of Municipal Finance's own FY2026 tax-rate report, Portsmouth's residential real estate rate is $13.28 per $1,000 of assessed value for the 2025 tax roll (assessment date December 31, 2024). This page lays that rate out alongside governance structure, economic and demographic context, and home-price trends, and still points you to the Tax Assessor's office to confirm the exact current figure before any purchase decision, since rates are set annually and this page's figure could age.
The Confirmed Rate: $13.28 per $1,000 (FY2026)
Per the Rhode Island Division of Municipal Finance's own official FY2026 Tax Rates document (covering the 2025 tax roll year, assessment date December 31, 2024), Portsmouth's residential real estate (RRE) rate is $13.28 per $1,000 of assessed value; the commercial (COMM) rate is also $13.28, and the personal property (PP) rate is $15.65. For comparison, per that same official document, Newport's RRE rate is $8.69, Middletown's is $9.06, and Narragansett's is $6.79 -- Portsmouth's rate sits meaningfully higher than each of those three neighbors, a genuinely useful comparative data point for anyone weighing Aquidneck Island towns against each other.
That figure is confirmed as of the FY2026 tax roll -- it is not an estimate, a statewide median, or a neighboring town's rate borrowed as a stand-in. Rates are set annually through each town's own budget process, so this figure should still be reconfirmed with the Town of Portsmouth Tax Assessor's office before a purchase, refinance, or budgeting decision, since a newer tax roll may already be in effect by the time you are reading this.
Who Sets the Rate: An Elected Town Council
Portsmouth is governed by an elected Town Council, the body that adopts the town's annual budget and, through that process, sets the property tax rate above that funds it. This page will not name specific current council members with confidence -- officeholders change with each election cycle, and the research behind this page did not confirm a current, up-to-date 2026 roster reliable enough to state here. If you want to know who currently sits on the Council, or when the next budget hearing is scheduled, the Town of Portsmouth's own website and town clerk's office are the right source.
What matters for a prospective buyer, even with a confirmed FY2026 rate in hand, is the mechanism behind it: the rate is not a fixed, static number set once and left alone. It moves with the annual municipal budget process, so the $13.28 figure above should always be reconfirmed close to any purchase or refinance decision, directly with the Tax Assessor's office, in case a newer tax roll has since taken effect.
The Tax Base: A High-Income Town With a Lot of Non-Land Territory
Some confirmed context helps frame the base that Portsmouth's $13.28 rate applies to. Per 2020 Census-era American Community Survey data reflected in Portsmouth's own Wikipedia entry, median household income is $119,500 -- among the higher figures for towns covered on this site -- against a poverty rate of 4.4 percent. The 2020 Census counted 17,871 residents, up from 17,349 in 2010 and 17,149 in 2000, a steady if modest growth trend.
Portsmouth's total area is 59.3 square miles, but only 23.2 of those square miles are land -- the remaining 36.1 square miles are water, reflecting the town's large share of Narragansett Bay island and bay territory (Portsmouth's boundaries extend beyond Aquidneck Island itself to include Prudence, Patience, Hope, and Hog Islands). No specific breakdown of how much of that bay and island territory is taxable versus state-owned or otherwise non-taxable was confirmed in this research, so none is stated here -- but it is a reasonable structural reason why Portsmouth's effective tax base may look different, parcel-count-wise, than its full 59.3-square-mile footprint would suggest.
Home Prices: A Cooling Market, Which Matters for Assessments
Per Redfin's October 2025 snapshot, Portsmouth's median home sale price was $685,000, down 14.4 percent year over year -- a genuinely cooling market, not a rising one. That distinction matters for property tax specifically because assessed values typically lag behind real-time sale-price swings; a town's assessment roll reflects a prior valuation cycle, not last month's closings. A buyer evaluating Portsmouth today should not assume this year's assessed value already reflects the softer market Redfin is reporting, nor assume it will stay soft by the time of the next reassessment cycle.
Neither this cooling trend nor the median sale price itself changes the confirmed $13.28 rate above -- they describe the market a tax bill gets calculated against, not the rate itself. For how a specific property's current assessment was arrived at, and when it is next due for reassessment, ask the Tax Assessor's office directly.
Melville and Naval Station Newport: A Hedge, Not a Stated Tax Fact
Portsmouth is home to the Melville area, where documented PFAS and related contamination (petroleum, heavy metals, PCBs) tied to a former Navy refueling depot has been the subject of ongoing remediation, led by the Navy with EPA and Rhode Island DEM oversight. Naval Station Newport itself spans Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport, and this Melville contamination story belongs primarily to Portsmouth's own coverage on this site, since Melville sits physically within town boundaries.
This page will not claim a specific property-value or assessment impact tied to that contamination for any individual parcel -- no such tax-assessment effect was confirmed in this research. If you are evaluating a property near Melville specifically, it is reasonable to ask both the Tax Assessor's office and a Rhode Island real estate attorney about any environmental disclosure requirements or documented value effects tied to that area, rather than assuming either that there is no effect or that there is one.
What This Means If You're Evaluating Property Tax Here
The honest summary is this: Portsmouth, RI is governed by an elected Town Council that sets its property tax rate through an annual budget process, currently $13.28 per $1,000 of assessed value for residential real estate (FY2026, 2025 tax roll), sits on a tax base backed by a median household income of $119,500 and a 2020 Census population of 17,871 (2020-era ACS and Census data), spans 59.3 square miles of which well over half is water, and has a currently cooling home-sale market -- $685,000 median sale price as of October 2025, down 14.4 percent year over year.
Before you make any purchase decision in Portsmouth, RI, reconfirm the current rate directly with the Town of Portsmouth Tax Assessor's office in case a newer tax roll has since taken effect -- do not rely solely on the FY2026 figure above without that check. Pair that with guidance from a Rhode Island-licensed tax professional, who can walk through how the current rate, any applicable exemptions, and your specific property situation fit together. This page is informational background, not tax advice.
Ready to talk to a local Portsmouth, RI agent?
Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. This page covers Portsmouth, Rhode Island on Aquidneck Island -- the second-oldest municipality in Rhode Island, founded in 1638 -- not Portsmouth, New Hampshire or Portsmouth, Virginia, and distinct from Newport and Middletown, RI's separate coverage on this site. The confirmed property tax rate ($13.28 per $1,000 of assessed value for residential real estate and commercial property, $15.65 for personal property; comparative figures for Newport $8.69, Middletown $9.06, and Narragansett $6.79) is per the Rhode Island Division of Municipal Finance's own official FY2026 Tax Rates document, covering the 2025 tax roll year with an assessment date of December 31, 2024. Demographic and economic figures (median household income $119,500; poverty rate 4.4 percent; 2020 Census population 17,871, up from 17,349 in 2010 and 17,149 in 2000) and area figures (59.3 square miles total, 23.2 land, 36.1 water) reflect 2020-2024-era American Community Survey and Census data as presented in Portsmouth's own Wikipedia entry. The $685,000 median home sale price, down 14.4 percent year over year, is per Redfin's October 2025 snapshot. Melville-area PFAS and related contamination context reflects ecoRI News reporting (August 2021) on a former Navy refueling depot site, with remediation described as ongoing under Navy, EPA, and Rhode Island DEM oversight; no specific property-tax-assessment impact tied to that contamination was confirmed and none is stated here. This page does not name current Town Council members, since no independently verified, up-to-date council roster was found in this research. For the current rate (in case a newer tax roll has since taken effect) and current Council information, contact the Town of Portsmouth, RI Tax Assessor's office and town clerk directly, and consult a Rhode Island-licensed tax professional for guidance specific to your situation.