Graphic Designers in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,345
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$16,875
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,490
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
$78,220
Kept after tax
$61,345
Worth in national money
$60,490
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Rhode Island pays graphic designers a middle wage of $78,220, ranking 2 of 51 states and sitting about 24.24% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Graphic designers ranks 159 among 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $78,220 the take-home is $61,345, which is worth about $60,490 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $78,900, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Rhode Island's median for graphic designers is $78,220, about 24.24% above the national figure and 2 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 159 of 452 in Rhode Island places graphic designers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for graphic designers on its $78,220 median: $61,345 retained after tax becomes $60,490 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $78,900 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,580 |
| This salary | $78,220 |
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 | $61,345 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,858 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,224 |
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 | $74,648 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,216 |
| 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 graphic designers in Rhode Island earn under $78,220 and half over. The published range runs $49,330 at the tenth percentile to $107,580 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Rhode Island's $61,345, worked from $78,220. 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 159 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 $60,490, the adjusted value of that $78,220 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 159 of 452 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for graphic designers in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,330 to $107,580; 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.
- The Rhode Island take-home of $61,345, on $78,220 for work ranking 159 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 159 of 452 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $60,490 — the adjusted value of that $78,220 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 159 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $49,330 and the top tenth $107,580 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $60,490 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 $61,345 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($49,330) and the ninetieth ($107,580) 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 $60,490 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 $61,345 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.