Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,648
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$24,672
24.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,581
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
$101,320
Kept after tax
$76,648
Worth in national money
$75,581
State rank
11
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Rhode Island pays this job a middle wage of $101,320, ranking 11 of 45 states and sitting about 3.31% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Rhode Island. It ranks 77 out of 452 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $101,320, take-home of $76,648 is worth roughly $75,581 in national money. The average comes to $102,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Rhode Island's median for political science teachers, postsecondary is $101,320, about 3.31% above the national figure and 11 of 45 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, political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 77 of 452 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for political science teachers, postsecondary, whose median is $101,320, the adjusted figure of $75,581 differs little from $76,648 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $102,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,820 |
| This salary | $101,320 |
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 | $76,648 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,109 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,856 |
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 | $96,401 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,471 |
| 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 $101,320. The published range is $62,640 up to $156,820, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $76,648 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $101,320. 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 77 of 452.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $75,581 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 77.
- Reported values are medians; for political science teachers, postsecondary in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,640 to $156,820. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $76,648, from $101,320, 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 77 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $75,581, worked from $101,320, 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 77 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $62,640, the highest tenth $156,820, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Rhode Island costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $75,581 rather than its face figure.
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 $76,648.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($62,640) and the ninetieth ($156,820) 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 $75,581 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 $76,648 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.