Pharmacists in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$94,141
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$34,039
26.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$92,830
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
$128,180
Kept after tax
$94,141
Worth in national money
$92,830
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Rhode Island is among the lower-paying states for pharmacists. The middle earner takes $128,180, ranking 51 of 51 states — about 9.03% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 452 occupations Rhode Island reports, pharmacists comes in at 29 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $128,180 the take-home is $94,141, which is worth about $92,830 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $123,300, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Rhode Island ranks 51 of 51 for pharmacists, with a median of $128,180 — about 9.03% 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.
- Pharmacists ranks 29 of 452 occupations by median in Rhode Island, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for pharmacists on its $128,180 median: $94,141 retained after tax becomes $92,830 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $123,300 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Pharmacists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $86,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $128,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $161,090 |
| This salary | $128,180 |
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 | $94,141 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $98,877 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,921 |
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 | $121,266 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$12,504 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $128,180 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $86,650 and the ninetieth is $161,090 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $94,141, from $128,180, 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 29 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 $92,830 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 29.
- The Rhode Island median of $128,180 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $86,650 to $161,090. 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 $94,141 from $128,180. 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 29 of 452 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $92,830, worked from $128,180, 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 29 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 $123,300, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $86,650 and the top tenth $161,090, 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 $92,830 — 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 $94,141.
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 $123,300. 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 ($86,650 to $161,090) 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 $92,830 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 $94,141 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.