Sheet Metal Workers in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,467
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$12,633
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,736
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
$65,100
Kept after tax
$52,467
Worth in national money
$51,736
State rank
18
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Rhode Island is 18 of 50 states for sheet metal workers, with a middle wage of $65,100. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Rhode Island, this sits in the middle: 213 of 452 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $65,100 the take-home is $52,467, which is worth about $51,736 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $64,060, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Rhode Island ranks 18 of 50 for sheet metal workers at $65,100. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Sheet metal workers ranks 213 of 452 occupations in Rhode Island by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for sheet metal workers on its $65,100 median: $52,467 retained after tax becomes $51,736 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $64,060 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Sheet Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,980 |
| This salary | $65,100 |
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 | $52,467 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,488 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,336 |
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 | $62,584 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,244 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $65,100 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,670 and the ninetieth is $81,980 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Rhode Island the take-home figure of $52,467, from $65,100, 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 213 of 452 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $51,736, the adjusted value of that $65,100 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 213 of 452 locally.
- The Rhode Island median of $65,100 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,670 to $81,980. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Rhode Island is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $52,467 from $65,100. 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 213 of 452 locally.
- This $51,736 adjusted figure, worked from $65,100, 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 213 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 213 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,670 at the tenth percentile, $81,980 at the ninetieth.
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 $51,736 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $52,467 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,670 to $81,980) 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 $51,736 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 $52,467 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.