Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,078
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$7,932
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,561
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
$45,010
Kept after tax
$37,078
Worth in national money
$36,561
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Rhode Island pays this job a middle wage of $45,010, 42 of 51 states and about 3.04% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Rhode Island this is lower-paid work. Of 452 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 373. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $45,010, take-home of $37,078 is worth roughly $36,561 in national money. The average comes to $47,410, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Rhode Island's $45,010 median for industrial truck and tractor operators places it 42 of 51 states, about 3.04% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Rhode Island reports, industrial truck and tractor operators ranks 373 of 452, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for industrial truck and tractor operators, whose median is $45,010, the adjusted figure of $36,561 differs little from $37,078 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $47,410 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,330 |
| This salary | $45,010 |
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 | $37,078 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,346 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,899 |
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 | $43,432 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,506 |
| 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 industrial truck and tractor operators in Rhode Island earn under $45,010 and half over. The published range runs $38,960 at the tenth percentile to $58,330 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 $37,078, worked from $45,010. 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 373 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 $36,561, the adjusted value of that $45,010 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 373 of 452 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for industrial truck and tractor operators in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,960 to $58,330; 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 $37,078, on $45,010 for work ranking 373 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 373 of 452 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $36,561 — the adjusted value of that $45,010 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 373 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 $47,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,960 at the bottom tenth to $58,330 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $36,561 — 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, $37,078 remains.
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 $47,410. 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 ($38,960 to $58,330) 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 $36,561 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 $37,078 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.