Medical Transcriptionists in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,249
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$5,541
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,842
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
$34,790
Kept after tax
$29,249
Worth in national money
$28,842
State rank
45
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Rhode Island is among the lower-paying states for medical transcriptionists. The middle earner takes $34,790, ranking 45 of 50 states — about 13.91% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Rhode Island, this one sits low: 439 of 452 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $34,790, tax leaves $29,249, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $28,842 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $39,300, since top earners drag the number up.
- Rhode Island ranks 45 of 50 for medical transcriptionists, with a median of $34,790 — about 13.91% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Medical transcriptionists occupies position 439 of 452 in Rhode Island's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Rhode Island sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for medical transcriptionists — median $34,790 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $29,249 retained, $28,842 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $39,300 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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 Transcriptionists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,520 |
| This salary | $34,790 |
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 | $29,249 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,134 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,168 |
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 | $33,689 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,622 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,790 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,880 and the ninetieth is $56,520 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Rhode Island's $29,249, worked from $34,790. 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 439 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 $28,842, the adjusted value of that $34,790 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 439 of 452 in the state.
- The Rhode Island median of $34,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,880 to $56,520. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Rhode Island take-home of $29,249, on $34,790 for work ranking 439 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 439 of 452 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $28,842 — the adjusted value of that $34,790 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 439 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 $39,300, 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 — $31,880 at the tenth percentile, $56,520 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 $28,842 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Rhode Island then takes its own share, leaving $29,249.
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 $39,300. 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 ($31,880 to $56,520) 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 $28,842 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 $29,249 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.