Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,125
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$6,725
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,664
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
$39,850
Kept after tax
$33,125
Worth in national money
$32,664
State rank
16
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Rhode Island is 16 of 46 states for this job, with a middle wage of $39,850. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Rhode Island this is lower-paid work. Of 452 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 390. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $39,850, take-home of $33,125 is worth roughly $32,664 in national money. The average comes to $42,330, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Rhode Island ranks 16 of 46 for switchboard operators, including answering service at $39,850. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Rhode Island reports, switchboard operators, including answering service ranks 390 of 452, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for switchboard operators, including answering service, whose median is $39,850, the adjusted figure of $32,664 differs little from $33,125 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $42,330 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,440 |
| This salary | $39,850 |
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 | $33,125 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,199 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,530 |
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 | $38,513 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,060 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of switchboard operators, including answering service in Rhode Island earn under $39,850 and half over. The published range runs $33,860 at the tenth percentile to $55,440 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $33,125 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $39,850. 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 390 of 452.
- Two cautions on $32,664, the adjusted value of that $39,850 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 390 of 452 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for switchboard operators, including answering service in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,860 to $55,440; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $33,125, from $39,850, 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 390 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 46 for it.
- This $32,664 adjusted figure, worked from $39,850, 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 390 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 390 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 $42,330, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,860 and the top tenth $55,440, so most people doing this work in Rhode Island sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $32,664 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 $33,125.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 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 $42,330. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,860 to $55,440) 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 $32,664 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 $33,125 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.