Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,961
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$6,369
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,516
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
$38,330
Kept after tax
$31,961
Worth in national money
$31,516
State rank
25
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Rhode Island is 25 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $38,330. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Rhode Island this is lower-paid work. Of 452 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 397. 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 $38,330, take-home of $31,961 is worth roughly $31,516 in national money. The average comes to $42,070, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Rhode Island ranks 25 of 50 for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service at $38,330. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Rhode Island reports, mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service ranks 397 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 mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service, whose median is $38,330, the adjusted figure of $31,516 differs little from $31,961 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $42,070 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,750 |
| This salary | $38,330 |
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 | $31,961 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,978 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,421 |
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 | $37,064 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,928 |
| 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 $38,330. The published range is $36,090 up to $49,750, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $31,961, from $38,330, 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 397 of 452 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $31,516, the adjusted value of that $38,330 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Rhode Island. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 397 of 452 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,090 to $49,750. 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 $31,961 from $38,330. 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 397 of 452 locally.
- This $31,516 adjusted figure, worked from $38,330, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 397 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 397 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 $42,070, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,090 at the tenth percentile, $49,750 at the ninetieth.
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 $31,516 rather than its face figure.
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, $31,961 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 50 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 $42,070. 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 ($36,090 to $49,750) 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 $31,516 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 $31,961 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.