Paramedics in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,279
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$12,271
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,565
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
$63,550
Kept after tax
$51,279
Worth in national money
$50,565
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 paramedics, with a middle wage of $63,550. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Paramedics ranks 223 among 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $63,550, take-home of $51,279 is worth roughly $50,565 in national money. The average comes to $67,390, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Rhode Island ranks 18 of 51 for paramedics at $63,550. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 223 of 452 in Rhode Island places paramedics 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 paramedics, whose median is $63,550, the adjusted figure of $50,565 differs little from $51,279 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $67,390 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Paramedics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,490 |
| This salary | $63,550 |
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 | $51,279 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,242 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,225 |
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 | $61,107 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,110 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,550 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,960 and the ninetieth is $81,490 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $51,279, from $63,550, 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 223 of 452 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Rhode Island, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,565, the adjusted value of that $63,550 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 223 of 452 in the state.
- The Rhode Island median of $63,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,960 to $81,490. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Rhode Island is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $51,279 from $63,550. 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 223 of 452 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $50,565 — the adjusted value of that $63,550 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 223 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $67,390, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $50,960 at the bottom tenth to $81,490 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $50,565 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 $51,279.
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 $67,390. 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 ($50,960 to $81,490) 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 $50,565 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 $51,279 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.