Postsecondary Teachers, All Other in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,859
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$11,531
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,178
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
$60,390
Kept after tax
$48,859
Worth in national money
$48,178
State rank
39
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Rhode Island. The middle earner gets $60,390. That is 39 of 48 states, and about 22.22% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 452 occupations Rhode Island reports figures for, this is number 249.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $60,390, tax leaves $48,859, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $48,178 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $83,970, since top earners drag the number up.
- For postsecondary teachers, all other, Rhode Island sits in the lower band at $60,390, ranking 39 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 22.22%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Rhode Island's occupational distribution, postsecondary teachers, all other sits at 249 of 452 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Rhode Island sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for postsecondary teachers, all other — median $60,390 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $48,859 retained, $48,178 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $83,970 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Postsecondary Teachers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $160,500 |
| This salary | $60,390 |
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 | $48,859 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,703 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,999 |
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 | $58,094 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,836 |
| 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 postsecondary teachers, all other in Rhode Island earn under $60,390 and half over. The published range runs $47,030 at the tenth percentile to $160,500 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Rhode Island's $48,859, worked from $60,390. 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 249 of 452.
- One number stands for prices across all of Rhode Island, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $48,178, the adjusted value of that $60,390 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 249 of 452 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for postsecondary teachers, all other in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,030 to $160,500; 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.
- The Rhode Island take-home of $48,859, on $60,390 for work ranking 249 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 249 of 452 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $48,178 — the adjusted value of that $60,390 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 249 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $83,970 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $47,030 at the bottom tenth to $160,500 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $48,178 — 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 $48,859.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $83,970. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($47,030) and the ninetieth ($160,500) 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 $48,178 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 $48,859 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.