Driver/Sales Workers in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,820
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$5,410
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,419
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
$34,230
Kept after tax
$28,820
Worth in national money
$28,419
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Rhode Island is among the lower-paying states for driver/sales workers. The middle earner takes $34,230, ranking 39 of 51 states — about 11.71% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Rhode Island, this one sits low: 443 of 452 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $34,230, tax leaves $28,820, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $28,419 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $43,060, since top earners drag the number up.
- Rhode Island ranks 39 of 51 for driver/sales workers, with a median of $34,230 — about 11.71% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Driver/sales workers occupies position 443 of 452 in Rhode Island's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Rhode Island sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for driver/sales workers — median $34,230 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $28,820 retained, $28,419 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $43,060 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Driver/Sales Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,280 |
| This salary | $34,230 |
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 | $28,820 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,684 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,128 |
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 | $33,155 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,573 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,230 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,200 and the ninetieth is $65,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $28,820 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $34,230. 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 443 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 $28,419, the adjusted value of that $34,230 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 443 of 452 in the state.
- The Rhode Island median of $34,230 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,200 to $65,280. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $28,820, from $34,230, 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 443 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $28,419 — the adjusted value of that $34,230 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 443 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 $43,060, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $65,280 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 $28,419 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 $28,820.
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.
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 $43,060. 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 ($31,200) and the ninetieth ($65,280) 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 $28,419 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 $28,820 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.