Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,256
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$9,514
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,667
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
$51,770
Kept after tax
$42,256
Worth in national money
$41,667
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Rhode Island is 22 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $51,770. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 302 among 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $51,770, take-home of $42,256 is worth roughly $41,667 in national money. The average comes to $54,310, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Rhode Island ranks 22 of 51 for automotive service technicians and mechanics at $51,770. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 302 of 452 in Rhode Island places automotive service technicians and mechanics in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for automotive service technicians and mechanics, whose median is $51,770, the adjusted figure of $41,667 differs little from $42,256 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $54,310 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,780 |
| This salary | $51,770 |
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 | $42,256 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,777 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,382 |
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 | $49,877 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,091 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Rhode Island earn less than $51,770. The published range is $31,860 up to $80,780, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $42,256 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $51,770. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 302 of 452.
- Two cautions on $41,667, the adjusted value of that $51,770 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Rhode Island. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 302 of 452 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for automotive service technicians and mechanics in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,860 to $80,780. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $42,256, from $51,770, assumes a single Rhode Island filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 302 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- This $41,667 adjusted figure, worked from $51,770, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 302 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 302 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $54,310, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $31,860 and the top tenth $80,780 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $41,667 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 $42,256.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Rhode Island is $54,310. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,860) and the ninetieth ($80,780) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $41,667 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 $42,256 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.