Medical Assistants in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,748
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$8,442
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,208
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
$47,190
Kept after tax
$38,748
Worth in national money
$38,208
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Rhode Island is 18 of 51 states for medical assistants, with a middle wage of $47,190. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Medical assistants ranks 339 among 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $47,190, take-home of $38,748 is worth roughly $38,208 in national money. The average comes to $47,550, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Rhode Island ranks 18 of 51 for medical assistants at $47,190. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 339 of 452 in Rhode Island places medical assistants 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.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for medical assistants, whose median is $47,190, the adjusted figure of $38,208 differs little from $38,748 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $47,550 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Medical Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,840 |
| This salary | $47,190 |
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 | $38,748 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,097 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,055 |
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 | $45,510 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,694 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,190 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,280 and the ninetieth is $56,840 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $38,748 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $47,190. 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 339 of 452.
- Two cautions on $38,208, the adjusted value of that $47,190 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 339 of 452 locally.
- The Rhode Island median of $47,190 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,280 to $56,840. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $38,748, from $47,190, 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 339 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 51 for it.
- This $38,208 adjusted figure, worked from $47,190, 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 339 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 339 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,280 at the tenth percentile, $56,840 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 $38,208 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $38,748 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,280 to $56,840) 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 $38,208 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 $38,748 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.