Crane and Tower Operators in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,630
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$25,710
24.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,535
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
$104,340
Kept after tax
$78,630
Worth in national money
$77,535
State rank
3
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Rhode Island pays crane and tower operators a middle wage of $104,340, ranking 3 of 50 states and sitting about 53.26% above the national middle.
- Within Rhode Island this is well-paid work. Of 452 occupations with published figures in the state, crane and tower operators ranks 57 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $104,340, take-home of $78,630 is worth roughly $77,535 in national money. The average lands at $99,690, below the middle of the range.
- Rhode Island's median for crane and tower operators is $104,340, about 53.26% above the national figure and 3 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation Rhode Island publishes a median for, crane and tower operators sits 57 of 452 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for crane and tower operators, whose median is $104,340, the adjusted figure of $77,535 differs little from $78,630 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $99,690 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Crane and Tower Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,610 |
| This salary | $104,340 |
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 | $78,630 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,233 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,089 |
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 | $99,218 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,792 |
| 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 crane and tower operators in Rhode Island earn under $104,340 and half over. The published range runs $67,460 at the tenth percentile to $132,610 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $78,630 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $104,340. 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 57 of 452.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $77,535 uses one figure for the whole of Rhode Island. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 452 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 57.
- Figures are distribution medians for crane and tower operators in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $67,460 to $132,610; 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.
- Retained pay of $78,630, from $104,340, 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 57 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $77,535, worked from $104,340, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Rhode Island address, on work sitting at 57 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 $99,690, 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 — $67,460 at the tenth percentile, $132,610 at the ninetieth.
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 $77,535 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Rhode Island adds its own income tax on top — which is why $78,630 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $99,690. 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 ($67,460 to $132,610) 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 $77,535 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 $78,630 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.