Business licences & permits across Rhode Island

Do I need a business licence or permit? What does it cost?

29 of 39 municipalities in Rhode Island have an adopted ordinance on business licences & permits on file. Each row links the municipality's answer page and, where transcribed, the full text of the document.

MunicipalityAdopted documentKey factsVerified
Barrington
Town
Chapter 124: Licenses and Permits 2026-06-05
Bristol
Town
Chapter 9 - Business and Regulations None
Burrillville
Town
Chapter 6 - Business and Regulations None
Central Falls
City
Chapter 10 - Business and Regulations None
Charlestown
Town
Chapter 147: Licenses and Business Regulations
adopted 2010-04-12
None
Coventry
Town
Chapter 153: Licensed Businesses None
Cranston
City
Title 5 - Business Licenses and Regulations None
Cumberland
Town
Chapter 8: Businesses (Article II: Licenses) None
East Greenwich
Town
Chapter 174: Peddling and Soliciting
adopted 1993-06-22
None
East Providence
City
Chapter 8, Article VIII: Itinerant Vendors None
Glocester
Town
Chapter 191: Itinerant or Temporary Vendors
adopted 2019-09-05
None
Hopkinton
Town
Chapter 5.4: Businesses and Licensing None
Johnston
Town
Chapter 125: Business Registration and Operating License
adopted 1979-12-10
2026-06-05
Lincoln
Town
Chapter 161: Licenses and Business Regulations — Town of Lincoln, RI
+1 more
2026-06-05
Little Compton
Town
General Licensing — Town of Little Compton, RI 2026-06-05
Middletown
Town
Chapter 115: Peddlers, Vendors, Solicitors, Junk Stores — Town of Middletown, RI 2026-06-05
Narragansett
Town
Chapter 14, Article XI: Peddlers, Solicitors and Itinerant Vendors — Town of Narragansett, RI 2026-06-05
Newport
City
Title 5: Business Licensing and Regulations — City of Newport, RI 2026-06-05
North Kingstown
Town
Chapter 9: Licenses, Permits and Miscellaneous Business Regulations — Town of North Kingstown, RI 2026-06-05
North Smithfield
Town
Chapter 217: Licensing 2026-06-05
Pawtucket
City
Chapter 260: Licensing 2026-06-05
Providence
City
Chapter 14: Licenses 2026-06-05
Scituate
Town
Chapter 4: Business Licenses and Regulations 2026-06-05
South Kingstown
Town
Chapter 9: Licenses and Miscellaneous Business Regulations 2026-06-05
Warren
Town
Chapter 11 – Licenses and Business Regulations 2026-06-05
Warwick
City
Chapter 8 – Business Regulations 2026-06-05
West Warwick
Town
Chapter 10 – Licenses and Business Regulations 2026-06-05
Westerly
Town
Chapter 158 – Licensing 2026-06-05
Woonsocket
City
Chapter 13 – Licenses and Permits licence required: True · who must license: Persons conducting businesses listed in Sec. 13-3 fee schedule, street vendors, drainlayers, rooming houses, tattooists, barbers, tobacco dealers, short-term lenders. · fee: Varies per Sec. 13-3 table: Auction '$ 2.00 per day', Automobile Junkyard '100.00', Tobacco Product '75.00'. 2026-06-05

Nothing on file for business licences & permits

Absence here is explicit, not a gap: each municipality below was checked, and its status says why there is no document.

Other ordinances on file, none on this topic (10) — Exeter, Foster, Jamestown, New Shoreham, North Providence, Portsmouth, Richmond, Smithfield, Tiverton, West Greenwich.

Machine-readable: business-licensing.json · Business licences & permits across every jurisdiction · All Rhode Island municipalities