Surveyors in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,605
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$12,065
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,901
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
$62,670
Kept after tax
$50,605
Worth in national money
$49,901
State rank
43
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for surveyors is on the low side in Rhode Island. The middle earner gets $62,670. That is 43 of 50 states, and about 16.93% 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 235.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $62,670, take-home of $50,605 is worth roughly $49,901 in national money. The average comes to $69,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For surveyors, Rhode Island sits in the lower band at $62,670, ranking 43 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 16.93%. 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, surveyors sits at 235 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 surveyors, whose median is $62,670, the adjusted figure of $49,901 differs little from $50,605 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $69,750 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Surveyors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,270 |
| This salary | $62,670 |
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 | $50,605 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,535 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,162 |
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 | $60,268 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,034 |
| 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 $62,670. The published range is $44,130 up to $99,270, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $50,605 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $62,670. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 235 of 452.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $49,901 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 235.
- Reported values are medians; for surveyors in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,130 to $99,270. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $50,605, from $62,670, assumes a single Rhode Island filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 235 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $49,901, worked from $62,670, 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 235 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 $69,750, 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 $44,130 at the bottom tenth to $99,270 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $49,901 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Rhode Island's own levy, $50,605 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $69,750. 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 ($44,130) and the ninetieth ($99,270) 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 $49,901 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 $50,605 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.