Prepress Technicians and Workers in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,782
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$8,148
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,256
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
$45,930
Kept after tax
$37,782
Worth in national money
$37,256
State rank
31
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for prepress technicians and workers is on the low side in Rhode Island. The middle earner gets $45,930. That is 31 of 45 states, and about 5.67% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes, prepress technicians and workers lands at 355. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $45,930, take-home of $37,782 is worth roughly $37,256 in national money. The average comes to $62,540, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For prepress technicians and workers, Rhode Island sits in the lower band at $45,930, ranking 31 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 5.67%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Rhode Island, this work ranks 355 of 452 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for prepress technicians and workers, whose median is $45,930, the adjusted figure of $37,256 differs little from $37,782 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $62,540 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Prepress Technicians and Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,930 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,050 |
| This salary | $45,930 |
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 | $37,782 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,085 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,965 |
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 | $44,309 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,585 |
| 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 $45,930. The published range is $42,710 up to $86,050, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $37,782, from $45,930, 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 355 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 $37,256 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 355.
- Reported values are medians; for prepress technicians and workers in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,710 to $86,050. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Rhode Island is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,782 from $45,930. 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 355 of 452 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,256, worked from $45,930, 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 355 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 $62,540, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $42,710 and the top tenth $86,050 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $37,256 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Rhode Island adds its own income tax on top — which is why $37,782 of this wage survives to your account.
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 45 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 $62,540. 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 ($42,710) and the ninetieth ($86,050) 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 $37,256 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 $37,782 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.