Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,386
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$24,534
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,322
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
$100,920
Kept after tax
$76,386
Worth in national money
$75,322
State rank
14
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Rhode Island is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $100,920, which ranks 14 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 8.23% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 452 occupations Rhode Island reports, this job comes in at 79 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $100,920 the take-home is $76,386, which is worth about $75,322 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $110,720, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Rhode Island ranks 14 of 48 states publishing a median for chemistry teachers, postsecondary, at $100,920 — about 8.23% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Chemistry teachers, postsecondary ranks 79 of 452 occupations by median in Rhode Island, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for chemistry teachers, postsecondary on its $100,920 median: $76,386 retained after tax becomes $75,322 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $110,720 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $183,750 |
| This salary | $100,920 |
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 | $76,386 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,827 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,825 |
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 | $96,028 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,428 |
| 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 $100,920. The published range is $59,670 up to $183,750, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Rhode Island's $76,386, worked from $100,920. 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 79 of 452.
- Two cautions on $75,322, the adjusted value of that $100,920 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 79 of 452 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for chemistry teachers, postsecondary in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $59,670 to $183,750. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Rhode Island take-home of $76,386, on $100,920 for work ranking 79 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 79 of 452 in the state.
- This $75,322 adjusted figure, worked from $100,920, 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 79 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 79 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $110,720, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $59,670 at the bottom tenth to $183,750 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Rhode Island run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $75,322 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $76,386.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $110,720. 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 ($59,670) and the ninetieth ($183,750) 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 $75,322 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 $76,386 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.