Private Detectives and Investigators in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,439
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$10,181
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,820
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
$54,620
Kept after tax
$44,439
Worth in national money
$43,820
State rank
16
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Rhode Island's middle earner gets $54,620, putting the state 16 of 49 — about 6.64% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 452 occupations Rhode Island reports figures for, this is number 290.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $54,620, take-home of $44,439 is worth roughly $43,820 in national money. The average comes to $60,960, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For private detectives and investigators, Rhode Island sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $54,620, ranking 16 of 49 and running about 6.64% 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.
- In Rhode Island's occupational distribution, private detectives and investigators sits at 290 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.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for private detectives and investigators, whose median is $54,620, the adjusted figure of $43,820 differs little from $44,439 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $60,960 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Private Detectives and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,140 |
| This salary | $54,620 |
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 | $44,439 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,067 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,586 |
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 | $52,594 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,337 |
| 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 $54,620. The published range is $37,560 up to $79,140, 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 $44,439, worked from $54,620. 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 290 of 452.
- Two cautions on $43,820, the adjusted value of that $54,620 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Rhode Island. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 290 of 452 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for private detectives and investigators in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,560 to $79,140. 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 $44,439, on $54,620 for work ranking 290 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 290 of 452 in the state.
- This $43,820 adjusted figure, worked from $54,620, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 290 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 290 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 $60,960, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,560 at the bottom tenth to $79,140 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $43,820 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 $44,439.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $60,960. 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 ($37,560) and the ninetieth ($79,140) 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 $43,820 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 $44,439 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.