Like all of the counties in Rhode Island, Newport County does not have any form of county government functiona at all. All of those functions in Rhode Island are carried out either by the state government, or by the cities and towns of Rhode Island.
Newport is the location of the "mysterious" Newport Tower.
As of the census of 2000, there were 85,433 people, 35,228 households, and 22,228 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile (317/km²). There were 39,561 housing units at an average density of 380 per square mile (147/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.46% White, 3.73% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 1.23% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.09% from other races, and 1.99% from two or more races. 2.82% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 19.6% were of Irish, 13.2% Portuguese, 11.8% English, 9.2% Italian, 6.3% German and 5.2% French ancestry according to Census 2000. 92.0% spoke English, 2.3% Spanish, 2.1% Portuguese and 1.3% French as their first language.
There were 35,228 households out of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.90% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.90% were non-families. 29.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the county, the population was spread out with 22.50% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 24.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.40 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $50,448, and the median income for a family was $60,610. Males had a median income of $41,630 versus $29,241 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,779. About 5.40% of families and 7.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.00% of those under age 18 and 6.70% of those age 65 or over.