Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,785
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$9,065
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,217
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
$49,850
Kept after tax
$40,785
Worth in national money
$40,217
State rank
16
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Rhode Island's middle earner gets $49,850, putting the state 16 of 50 — about 3.32% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 452 occupations Rhode Island reports figures for, this is number 314.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $49,850, take-home of $40,785 is worth roughly $40,217 in national money. The average comes to $51,680, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders, Rhode Island sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $49,850, ranking 16 of 50 and running about 3.32% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Rhode Island's occupational distribution, coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders sits at 314 of 452 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders, whose median is $49,850, the adjusted figure of $40,217 differs little from $40,785 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $51,680 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,750 |
| This salary | $49,850 |
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 | $40,785 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,234 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,245 |
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 | $48,046 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,925 |
| 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 $49,850. The published range is $33,280 up to $71,750, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $40,785, from $49,850, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 314 of 452 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Rhode Island, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,217, the adjusted value of that $49,850 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 314 of 452 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,280 to $71,750. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Rhode Island is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,785 from $49,850. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 314 of 452 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $40,217 — the adjusted value of that $49,850 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 314 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 $51,680, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $33,280 at the bottom tenth to $71,750 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Rhode Island costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $40,217 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 $40,785.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $51,680. 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 ($33,280) and the ninetieth ($71,750) 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 $40,217 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 $40,785 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.