Editors in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,171
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$16,789
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,320
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
$77,960
Kept after tax
$61,171
Worth in national money
$60,320
State rank
8
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Rhode Island pays editors a middle wage of $77,960, ranking 8 of 50 states and sitting about 0.05% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Rhode Island, this sits in the middle: 160 of 452 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $77,960 the take-home is $61,171, which is worth about $60,320 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $76,890, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Rhode Island's median for editors is $77,960, about 0.05% above the national figure and 8 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.
- Editors ranks 160 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.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for editors on its $77,960 median: $61,171 retained after tax becomes $60,320 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $76,890 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Editors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,890 |
| This salary | $77,960 |
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 | $61,171 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,675 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,206 |
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 | $74,401 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,192 |
| 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 $77,960. The published range is $50,900 up to $102,890, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $61,171, from $77,960, 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 160 of 452 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Rhode Island, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $60,320, the adjusted value of that $77,960 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 160 of 452 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for editors in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,900 to $102,890. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Rhode Island is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $61,171 from $77,960. 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 160 of 452 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $60,320 — the adjusted value of that $77,960 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 160 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $50,900 and the top tenth $102,890, so most people doing this work in Rhode Island sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $60,320 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 $61,171 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($50,900 to $102,890) 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 $60,320 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 $61,171 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.