Rhode Island
Rhode Island offers a tiered property tax exemption ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 of assessed value depending on rating and circumstance, free hunting and fishing licenses for resident veterans rated 100 percent, in state tuition at the University of Rhode Island system, and free state park and beach admission and parking for veterans rated 100 percent.
Rhode Island Department of Veterans AffairsProperty tax exemption
Tiered municipal exemption: $1,000 base for veterans; higher amounts for service connected disability, paraplegia, blindness, or specially adapted housing. Municipalities may grant additional local exemption.
State income tax
Rhode Island does not tax VA disability compensation, and military retirement pay is fully exempt from Rhode Island income tax (full exemption phased in since 2023).
Disabled veteran plates & registration
Rhode Island issues a Disabled Veteran plate with no charge for the plate or registration to veterans rated 100% service-connected (a 2026 law also covers veterans 75+ with a 70%+ rating); one set per veteran, transferable to a surviving spouse.
Public employment preference
Rhode Island adds 5 points to a veteran's civil-service exam score and 10 points for wartime disabled veterans (10%+).
In state tuition
Under 38 USC 3679(c) (originally Section 702 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act), every public college that accepts Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill students must charge in state tuition to covered students using their GI Bill, regardless of state residency. The old requirement to enroll within 3 years of separation was removed by the Isakson and Roe Act effective August 1, 2021, so there is no longer a time limit after discharge. State specific extensions to this rule are noted below where applicable.
Dependent / survivor education
Rhode Island residents with a 10%+ service-connected disability get a tuition waiver at public colleges, and the dependents of 100% disabled or service-deceased veterans receive free tuition.
Hunting and fishing license
Free hunting and fishing license for qualifying veterans.
State park entrance
Reduced state park admission and parking fees.
Camping & recreation
Veterans rated 100% service-connected get free admission and parking at all Rhode Island state parks and beaches through an annual disability pass.
State veterans cemetery
The Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery (Exeter) provides the plot, opening/closing, and perpetual care at no cost for honorably discharged RI wartime veterans, 20-year Guard/Reserve retirees, and some dependents.
Rhode Island ranks 51 of 51 for rural veterans' access to accredited help: 37.91 accredited representatives per 10,000 veterans, with 12.0 percent of its veterans living rural.
Email me the Rhode Island benefit checklist
A clean, printable checklist of every Rhode Island benefit on this page - with the eligibility threshold and official source for each - sent straight to your inbox.
State legislatures revise thresholds and dollar amounts every session. The figures above are sourced from the state agency that administers each program, but the latest year is the state's word, not ours. Before you file an application, click the source link in each section and verify the current threshold.
Writing about Rhode Island veteran benefits? You are welcome to reference this guide. Copy the citation below and link back so your readers can verify each program against the state source, or download the benefits table.
Developers: this record is available as structured data VBD:STATE:RI