File Clerks in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,482
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$5,918
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,058
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
$36,400
Kept after tax
$30,482
Worth in national money
$30,058
State rank
46
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Rhode Island is among the lower-paying states for file clerks. The middle earner takes $36,400, ranking 46 of 49 states — about 16.51% 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: 426 of 452 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $36,400 the take-home is $30,482, which is worth about $30,058 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $42,340, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Rhode Island ranks 46 of 49 for file clerks, with a median of $36,400 — about 16.51% 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.
- File clerks occupies position 426 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 file clerks on its $36,400 median: $30,482 retained after tax becomes $30,058 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $42,340 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: File Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,840 |
| This salary | $36,400 |
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 | $30,482 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,427 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,283 |
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 | $35,224 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,761 |
| 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 file clerks in Rhode Island earn under $36,400 and half over. The published range runs $32,390 at the tenth percentile to $62,840 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,482 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $36,400. 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 426 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 $30,058, the adjusted value of that $36,400 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 426 of 452 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for file clerks in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,390 to $62,840; 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 $30,482, from $36,400, 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 426 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $30,058 — the adjusted value of that $36,400 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 426 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 $42,340, 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 $32,390 at the bottom tenth to $62,840 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $30,058 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $30,482.
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 49 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 $42,340. 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 ($32,390) and the ninetieth ($62,840) 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 $30,058 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 $30,482 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.