Fence Erectors in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,181
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$8,269
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,649
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
$46,450
Kept after tax
$38,181
Worth in national money
$37,649
State rank
26
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Rhode Island sits in the middle of the pack for fence erectors. The median is $46,450, ranking 26 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Rhode Island, this one sits low: 347 of 452 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $46,450 the take-home is $38,181, which is worth about $37,649 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $50,040, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Rhode Island occupies the middle band for fence erectors: a median of $46,450, ranking 26 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Fence erectors occupies position 347 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.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for fence erectors on its $46,450 median: $38,181 retained after tax becomes $37,649 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $50,040 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Fence Erectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,320 |
| This salary | $46,450 |
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 | $38,181 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,503 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,002 |
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 | $44,805 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,630 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,450 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,760 and the ninetieth is $60,320 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Rhode Island's $38,181, worked from $46,450. 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 347 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 $37,649, the adjusted value of that $46,450 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 347 of 452 in the state.
- The Rhode Island median of $46,450 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,760 to $60,320. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Rhode Island take-home of $38,181, on $46,450 for work ranking 347 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 347 of 452 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $37,649 — the adjusted value of that $46,450 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 347 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $50,040, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,760 at the tenth percentile, $60,320 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 $37,649 — 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, $38,181 remains.
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 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $50,040. 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 ($45,760 to $60,320) 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 $37,649 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 $38,181 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.