Nursing Assistants in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,173
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$8,267
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,642
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
$46,440
Kept after tax
$38,173
Worth in national money
$37,642
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Rhode Island pays nursing assistants a middle wage of $46,440, ranking 13 of 51 states and sitting about 9.89% above the national middle.
- Against 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes, nursing assistants lands at 348. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $46,440, take-home of $38,173 is worth roughly $37,642 in national money. The average lands at $46,360, below the middle of the range.
- Rhode Island's median for nursing assistants is $46,440, about 9.89% above the national figure and 13 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Rhode Island, this work ranks 348 of 452 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for nursing assistants, whose median is $46,440, the adjusted figure of $37,642 differs little from $38,173 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $46,360 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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: Nursing Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,950 |
| This salary | $46,440 |
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 | $38,173 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,495 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,001 |
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 | $44,795 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,630 |
| 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 nursing assistants in Rhode Island earn under $46,440 and half over. The published range runs $39,220 at the tenth percentile to $54,950 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,173 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $46,440. 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 348 of 452.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,642 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 348.
- Figures are distribution medians for nursing assistants in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,220 to $54,950; 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.
- Retained pay of $38,173, from $46,440, 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 348 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,642, worked from $46,440, 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 348 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $39,220 and the top tenth $54,950, so most people doing this work in Rhode Island sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $37,642 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $38,173.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,220 to $54,950) 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 $37,642 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 $38,173 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.