Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,993
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$25,377
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,907
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
$103,370
Kept after tax
$77,993
Worth in national money
$76,907
State rank
10
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Rhode Island's middle earner gets $103,370, putting the state 10 of 46 — about 0.04% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Rhode Island this is well-paid work. Of 452 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 65 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $103,370, tax leaves $77,993, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $76,907 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $121,140, since top earners drag the number up.
- For medical scientists, except epidemiologists, Rhode Island sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $103,370, ranking 10 of 46 and running about 0.04% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Ranked against every occupation Rhode Island publishes a median for, medical scientists, except epidemiologists sits 65 of 452 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Because Rhode Island sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for medical scientists, except epidemiologists — median $103,370 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $77,993 retained, $76,907 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $121,140 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $218,940 |
| This salary | $103,370 |
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 | $77,993 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,551 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,014 |
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 | $98,313 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,689 |
| 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 $103,370. The published range is $66,370 up to $218,940, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $77,993 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $103,370. 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 65 of 452.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $76,907 uses one figure for the whole of Rhode Island. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 452 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 65.
- Reported values are medians; for medical scientists, except epidemiologists in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $66,370 to $218,940. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $77,993, from $103,370, 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 65 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 10 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $76,907, worked from $103,370, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Rhode Island address, on work sitting at 65 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $121,140 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $66,370 and the top tenth $218,940 — 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 $76,907 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 $77,993 of this wage survives to your account.
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 46 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 $121,140. 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 ($66,370) and the ninetieth ($218,940) 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 $76,907 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 $77,993 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.