Receptionists and Information Clerks in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,247
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$7,373
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,756
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
$42,620
Kept after tax
$35,247
Worth in national money
$34,756
State rank
7
of 51 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 $42,620, ranking 7 of 51 states and sitting about 12.13% above the national middle.
- Against 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes, this job lands at 381. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $42,620, tax leaves $35,247, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $34,756 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $42,330.
- Rhode Island's median for receptionists and information clerks is $42,620, about 12.13% above the national figure and 7 of 51 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, this work ranks 381 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.
- Because Rhode Island sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for receptionists and information clerks — median $42,620 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $35,247 retained, $34,756 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $42,330 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Receptionists and Information Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,020 |
| This salary | $42,620 |
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 | $35,247 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,425 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,728 |
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 | $41,154 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,299 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,620 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,940 and the ninetieth is $50,020 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Rhode Island's $35,247, worked from $42,620. 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 381 of 452.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,756 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 381.
- The Rhode Island median of $42,620 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,940 to $50,020. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Rhode Island take-home of $35,247, on $42,620 for work ranking 381 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 381 of 452 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,756, worked from $42,620, 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 381 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $32,940 at the bottom tenth to $50,020 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $34,756 rather than its face figure.
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 $35,247 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,940 to $50,020) 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 $34,756 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 $35,247 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.