Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,456
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$8,964
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,892
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
$49,420
Kept after tax
$40,456
Worth in national money
$39,892
State rank
15
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Rhode Island's middle earner gets $49,420, putting the state 15 of 45 — about 15.17% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 452 occupations Rhode Island reports figures for, this is number 320.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $49,420, tax leaves $40,456, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $39,892 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $49,920, since top earners drag the number up.
- For teaching assistants, postsecondary, Rhode Island sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $49,420, ranking 15 of 45 and running about 15.17% 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, teaching assistants, postsecondary sits at 320 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.
- Because Rhode Island sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for teaching assistants, postsecondary — median $49,420 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $40,456 retained, $39,892 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $49,920 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,880 |
| This salary | $49,420 |
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 | $40,456 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,889 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,214 |
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 | $47,636 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,887 |
| 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 teaching assistants, postsecondary in Rhode Island earn under $49,420 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $64,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Rhode Island's $40,456, worked from $49,420. 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 320 of 452.
- One number stands for prices across all of Rhode Island, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $39,892, the adjusted value of that $49,420 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 320 of 452 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for teaching assistants, postsecondary in Rhode Island, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $64,880; 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.
- The Rhode Island take-home of $40,456, on $49,420 for work ranking 320 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 320 of 452 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $39,892 — the adjusted value of that $49,420 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 320 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,200 at the tenth percentile, $64,880 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 $39,892 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $40,456 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,200 to $64,880) 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 $39,892 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 $40,456 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.