Physical Therapist Assistants in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,964
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$13,676
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,199
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
$68,640
Kept after tax
$54,964
Worth in national money
$54,199
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for physical therapist assistants is strong here. Rhode Island's middle earner gets $68,640, putting the state 17 of 51 — about 0.38% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Physical therapist assistants ranks 203 among 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes pay for.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $68,640, tax leaves $54,964, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $54,199 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $67,980.
- For physical therapist assistants, Rhode Island sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $68,640, ranking 17 of 51 and running about 0.38% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 203 of 452 in Rhode Island places physical therapist assistants 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.
- Because Rhode Island sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for physical therapist assistants — median $68,640 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $54,964 retained, $54,199 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $67,980 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $68,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,990 |
| This salary | $68,640 |
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 | $54,964 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,118 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,580 |
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 | $65,693 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,805 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Rhode Island earn less than $68,640. The published range is $58,380 up to $76,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Rhode Island's $54,964, worked from $68,640. 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 203 of 452.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,199 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 203.
- Reported values are medians; for physical therapist assistants in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $58,380 to $76,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Rhode Island take-home of $54,964, on $68,640 for work ranking 203 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 203 of 452 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,199, worked from $68,640, 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 203 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $58,380 at the bottom tenth to $76,990 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 $54,199 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 $54,964.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($58,380 to $76,990) 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 $54,199 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 $54,964 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.