Cooks, Short Order in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,027
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$8,223
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,498
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
$46,250
Kept after tax
$38,027
Worth in national money
$37,498
State rank
2
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Rhode Island pays cooks, short order a middle wage of $46,250, ranking 2 of 49 states and sitting about 28.9% above the national middle.
- Against 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes, cooks, short order lands at 351. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $46,250, take-home of $38,027 is worth roughly $37,498 in national money. The average lands at $43,410, below the middle of the range.
- Rhode Island's median for cooks, short order is $46,250, about 28.9% above the national figure and 2 of 49 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 351 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.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for cooks, short order, whose median is $46,250, the adjusted figure of $37,498 differs little from $38,027 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $43,410 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,920 |
| This salary | $46,250 |
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 | $38,027 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,342 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,988 |
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 | $44,614 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,613 |
| 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, short order in Rhode Island earn under $46,250 and half over. The published range runs $31,940 at the tenth percentile to $47,920 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $38,027, from $46,250, 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 351 of 452 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,498, the adjusted value of that $46,250 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 351 of 452 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for cooks, short order in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,940 to $47,920; 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 $38,027 from $46,250. 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 351 of 452 locally.
- This $37,498 adjusted figure, worked from $46,250, 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 351 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 351 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 $43,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,940 at the tenth percentile, $47,920 at the ninetieth.
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 $37,498 — 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, $38,027 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $43,410. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,940 to $47,920) 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 $37,498 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 $38,027 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.