Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,535
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$7,155
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,054
Rhode Island costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Rhode Island — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$41,690
Kept after tax
$34,535
Worth in national money
$34,054
State rank
4
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Rhode Island pays this job a middle wage of $41,690, ranking 4 of 51 states and sitting about 16.88% above the national middle.
- Against 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes, this job lands at 385. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $41,690, tax leaves $34,535, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $34,054 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $41,440.
- Rhode Island's median for automotive and watercraft service attendants is $41,690, about 16.88% above the national figure and 4 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Rhode Island, this work ranks 385 of 452 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Rhode Island sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for automotive and watercraft service attendants — median $41,690 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $34,535 retained, $34,054 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $41,440 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,130 |
| This salary | $41,690 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Rhode Island | $34,535 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,678 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,661 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $40,267 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,219 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of automotive and watercraft service attendants in Rhode Island earn under $41,690 and half over. The published range runs $36,540 at the tenth percentile to $44,130 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Rhode Island's $34,535, worked from $41,690. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 385 of 452.
- One number stands for prices across all of Rhode Island, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,054, the adjusted value of that $41,690 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 385 of 452 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for automotive and watercraft service attendants in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,540 to $44,130; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Rhode Island take-home of $34,535, on $41,690 for work ranking 385 of 452 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 385 of 452 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $34,054 — the adjusted value of that $41,690 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 385 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,540 at the bottom tenth to $44,130 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Rhode Island costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $34,054 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Rhode Island then takes its own share, leaving $34,535.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,540 to $44,130) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Rhode Island rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Rhode Island's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $34,054 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $34,535 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Rhode Island income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.