Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,273
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$8,297
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,740
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
$46,570
Kept after tax
$38,273
Worth in national money
$37,740
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Rhode Island's middle earner gets $46,570, putting the state 5 of 51 — about 24.35% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Rhode Island this is lower-paid work. Of 452 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 345. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $46,570 the take-home is $38,273, which is worth about $37,740 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $46,620, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For cooks, institution and cafeteria, Rhode Island sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,570, ranking 5 of 51 and running about 24.35% 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.
- Against every occupation Rhode Island reports, cooks, institution and cafeteria ranks 345 of 452, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for cooks, institution and cafeteria on its $46,570 median: $38,273 retained after tax becomes $37,740 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $46,620 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,380 |
| This salary | $46,570 |
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 | $38,273 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,599 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,010 |
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 | $44,919 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,641 |
| 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 cooks, institution and cafeteria in Rhode Island earn under $46,570 and half over. The published range runs $37,890 at the tenth percentile to $58,380 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $38,273, from $46,570, 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 345 of 452 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,740, the adjusted value of that $46,570 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 345 of 452 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, institution and cafeteria in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,890 to $58,380; 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.
- Take-home for Rhode Island is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,273 from $46,570. 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 345 of 452 locally.
- This $37,740 adjusted figure, worked from $46,570, 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 345 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 345 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,890 at the bottom tenth to $58,380 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $37,740 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Rhode Island's own levy, $38,273 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,890 to $58,380) 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 $37,740 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 $38,273 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.