Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,318
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$11,672
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,632
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
$60,990
Kept after tax
$49,318
Worth in national money
$48,632
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 this job, with a middle wage of $60,990. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 246 among 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $60,990, take-home of $49,318 is worth roughly $48,632 in national money. The average comes to $76,970, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Rhode Island ranks 18 of 51 for mental health and substance abuse social workers at $60,990. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 246 of 452 in Rhode Island places mental health and substance abuse social workers 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 mental health and substance abuse social workers, whose median is $60,990, the adjusted figure of $48,632 differs little from $49,318 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $76,970 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: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $135,200 |
| This salary | $60,990 |
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 | $49,318 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,185 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,042 |
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 | $58,666 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,888 |
| 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 mental health and substance abuse social workers in Rhode Island earn under $60,990 and half over. The published range runs $42,900 at the tenth percentile to $135,200 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $49,318, from $60,990, 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 246 of 452 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,632 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 246.
- Figures are distribution medians for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,900 to $135,200; 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.
- Take-home for Rhode Island is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,318 from $60,990. 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 246 of 452 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,632, worked from $60,990, 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 246 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 $76,970, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $42,900 and the top tenth $135,200 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $48,632 of national purchasing power.
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 $49,318.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $76,970. 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 ($42,900) and the ninetieth ($135,200) 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 $48,632 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 $49,318 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.