Dental Assistants in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,015
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$9,135
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,444
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
$50,150
Kept after tax
$41,015
Worth in national money
$40,444
State rank
13
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for dental assistants is strong here. Rhode Island's middle earner gets $50,150, putting the state 13 of 50 — about 4.33% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Rhode Island, this sits in the middle: 313 of 452 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $50,150, take-home of $41,015 is worth roughly $40,444 in national money. The average comes to $52,790, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For dental assistants, Rhode Island sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $50,150, ranking 13 of 50 and running about 4.33% 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.
- Dental assistants ranks 313 of 452 occupations in Rhode Island by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for dental assistants, whose median is $50,150, the adjusted figure of $40,444 differs little from $41,015 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $52,790 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,900 |
| This salary | $50,150 |
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 | $41,015 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,476 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,267 |
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 | $48,332 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,951 |
| 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 $50,150. The published range is $45,640 up to $60,900, 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 $41,015, worked from $50,150. 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 313 of 452.
- One number stands for prices across all of Rhode Island, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,444, the adjusted value of that $50,150 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 313 of 452 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for dental assistants in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,640 to $60,900. 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 $41,015, on $50,150 for work ranking 313 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 313 of 452 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $40,444 — the adjusted value of that $50,150 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 313 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $52,790 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,640 at the tenth percentile, $60,900 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 $40,444 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 $41,015.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $52,790. 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 ($45,640 to $60,900) 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 $40,444 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 $41,015 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.