Explore Rhode Island business statistics, credit risk scores, payment trends and leading industries using the latest Creditsafe data. Search for a free business credit report to assess an individual company.
Rhode Island Business Statistics, Credit Risk & Payment Trends | Creditsafe
Creditsafe has records for 334,105 businesses in Rhode Island, including 213,422 classified as active. An active classification means a qualifying company-information, payment or legal-filing update was recorded within the previous two years; it does not necessarily prove current trading. This page examines company counts, credit risk, payment behavior, company ages and leading industries using the latest Creditsafe data. Creditsafe credit scores run from 1 to 100, with higher scores indicating lower predicted credit risk. The figures describe Creditsafe database records, not an official state business census.
5 key takeaways for Rhode Island businesses
1. Rhode Island has a substantial recorded business market
The latest Creditsafe data shows: Creditsafe holds 334,105 Rhode Island business records, including 213,422 classified as active. The database records 12,638 businesses added in the latest 12 months.
What this means for your business: Use this market overview to guide prospect research, but validate each company before treating it as an active trading opportunity.
2. Rhode Island credit scores compared with the US
The latest Creditsafe data shows: Rhode Island has an average Creditsafe credit score of 54.62, compared with 51.76 nationally. This suggests lower average predicted credit risk in Rhode Island.
What this means for your business: Do not use statewide averages alone to set credit limits. Review each company’s credit report and individual risk indicators.
3. Payment performance provides a separate signal
The latest Creditsafe data shows: Rhode Island businesses average 1.86 days beyond terms, compared with 1.94 nationally. The share paying on time is 29.31%.
What this means for your business: Consider payment history alongside credit scores when setting terms, managing collections and forecasting cash flow.
4. Industry differences can affect cash flow
The latest Creditsafe data shows: Among the ten largest listed industries, Eating Places records the longest average payment delay (5.40 days beyond terms), compared with 1.86 days statewide.
What this means for your business: Check sector-level and company-level payment patterns rather than applying one collections policy across every industry.
5. State averages can hide customer-level risks
The latest Creditsafe data shows: The database contains 47,027 records in the supplied high-risk category and 25,666 with an unavailable or inapplicable risk category. These aggregate categories are not the same as individual-company score bands.
What this means for your business: Use state statistics as context, then assess the specific company’s creditworthiness and payment behavior before extending credit.
Know who you are doing business with
Go beyond Rhode Island averages. Check a company’s creditworthiness, payment behavior and potential risks before making your next business decision.
Active reflects Creditsafe’s data-update classification, not a guarantee a company is currently trading.
How many businesses are there in Rhode Island?
Creditsafe holds records on 334,105 Rhode Island businesses. Of these, 213,422 are active (63.9% of state records), while 120,683 are inactive. The database records 12,638 businesses added in the latest 12 months. These are database counts, not an official government census.
What is an active business?
Creditsafe classifies a business as active when at least one qualifying database element has been updated within the last two years. This may include company identity, contact, location, industry, sales or employee information, as well as payment data or legal filings such as suits, liens, judgments and UCCs. This classification indicates a recent data update and does not guarantee the business is currently trading.
Credit scores compared
Rhode Island
54.62 / 100
United States
51.76 / 100
Higher scores indicate lower predicted credit risk. Rhode Island has lower average predicted risk than the US benchmark.
Payment delays compared
Rhode Island
1.86 days
United States
1.94 days
Rhode Island businesses average fewer days beyond agreed terms than the national benchmark.
What is the average business credit risk in Rhode Island?
The Creditsafe business credit score ranges from 1 to 100 and predicts the likelihood of a company becoming seriously delinquent (90 or more days beyond payment terms) within the next 12 months or going bankrupt. Higher scores indicate lower credit risk. Rhode Island businesses have an average score of 54.62, compared with 51.76 nationally, suggesting lower average credit risk. These averages do not replace assessment of individual companies.
Rhode Island businesses by risk category
Low
27.9%
Medium
50.3%
High
14.1%
N/A
7.7%
Shares reflect the supplied aggregate risk categories, which should not be equated with individual-company credit score bands.
Creditsafe US score bands are: very low risk (71-100), low risk (51-70), moderate risk (30-50), high risk (21-29), and very high risk (1-20). N/A indicates an unavailable or inapplicable score. The dataset’s aggregated low, medium and high categories are retained as supplied and should not be assumed to correspond exactly to these individual-company score bands.
How quickly do Rhode Island businesses pay their bills?
Businesses in Rhode Island average 1.86 days beyond terms (DBT), compared with 1.94 nationally, a difference of -0.08 days. The supplied on-time payment figure is 29.31%. DBT and on-time payment percentage are separate measures and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Among the ten largest listed industries, Eating Places has the highest average DBT (5.40 days), while Real Estate Agents and Managers has the lowest (0.61 days). Industry aggregates do not establish the payment behavior of any particular company.
Need a Rhode Island business’s Secretary of State number?
Look up a business and find its Secretary of State (SOS) registration number with our free business search.
The median recorded company age is 18 years and the average is 22 years. The database includes 106,262 businesses aged 20 years or more and 96,181 records with no available company age.
Company age
Share of business records
Under 5 years
6.8%
5-10 years
12.9%
10-20 years
19.7%
20+ years
31.8%
N/A
28.8%
Percentages use all 334,105 Rhode Island business records, including those with no recorded age. Totals may differ slightly from 100% due to rounding.
What are the largest industries in Rhode Island?
Business Services is the largest listed industry, with 19,428 businesses in the Creditsafe database. The chart and table rank the ten largest listed industries by number of business records, not by employment or economic output.
Rhode Island ten largest industries by business records
Business Services
19,428
Real Estate Agents and Managers
17,504
Eating Places
12,821
Residential Construction
7,498
Offices and Clinics of Medical Doctors
7,197
Legal Services
5,489
Single-family Housing Construction
4,328
Beauty Shops
3,965
Business Consulting
3,839
Religious Organizations
3,713
Longer bars indicate larger recorded industry populations.
Rank
Industry
Business records
1
Business Services
19,428
2
Real Estate Agents and Managers
17,504
3
Eating Places
12,821
4
Residential Construction
7,498
5
Offices and Clinics of Medical Doctors
7,197
6
Legal Services
5,489
7
Single-family Housing Construction
4,328
8
Beauty Shops
3,965
9
Business Consulting
3,839
10
Religious Organizations
3,713
The three largest listed industries together account for 49,753 records (14.9% of the state database). These industry rankings should not be interpreted as employment or economic output rankings.
Average credit score by industry
Business Services
52.04
Real Estate Agents and Managers
54.07
Eating Places
54.57
Residential Construction
47.47
Offices and Clinics of Medical Doctors
58.70
Higher scores indicate lower predicted risk. Five leading industries shown.
Payment delays by industry
Business Services
1.26 days
Real Estate Agents and Managers
0.61 days
Eating Places
5.40 days
Residential Construction
2.11 days
Offices and Clinics of Medical Doctors
1.00 days
Average days beyond terms for five leading industries with available values.
Credit score profile across leading industries
Industries are ordered by business record count, not time. The line connects categorical observations and is not a historical trend.
Which Rhode Island industries stand out for credit risk and payment behavior?
Among the ten largest industries, Religious Organizations has the highest average credit score (59.60, indicating lower predicted risk), while Residential Construction has the lowest (47.47, indicating higher predicted risk). Eating Places records the longest average payment delay (5.40 DBT). Industry averages do not establish the creditworthiness of an individual business.
Industry (top ten)
Average credit score
Average DBT
Business Services
52.04
1.26
Real Estate Agents and Managers
54.07
0.61
Eating Places
54.57
5.40
Residential Construction
47.47
2.11
Offices and Clinics of Medical Doctors
58.70
1.00
Legal Services
59.57
1.06
Single-family Housing Construction
48.25
2.04
Beauty Shops
56.08
1.92
Business Consulting
55.03
1.12
Religious Organizations
59.60
0.71
How does Rhode Island compare with US averages?
Metric
Rhode Island
United States
Average credit score
54.62
51.76
Average DBT (days)
1.86
1.94
Rhode Island is 2.86 points above the national average credit score and 0.08 days below the national payment delay. These measures can move in different directions, so neither should be used alone to assess a business.
About Creditsafe data
These statistics are derived from Creditsafe’s US business database and provide an aggregated view of records associated with Rhode Island. They are not official state registration totals. An active business has had at least one qualifying company-information, payment-data or legal-filing update in the last two years, which does not necessarily establish current trading. State and industry averages provide context and should not replace assessment of an individual business credit report.
Source: US_STATE_SEO_LLM_FINAL_20261101.csv | Data as of October 31, 2026 | Refresh frequency: monthly.
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