Tool and Die Makers in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,187
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$12,243
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,475
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
$63,430
Kept after tax
$51,187
Worth in national money
$50,475
State rank
26
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Rhode Island sits in the middle of the pack for tool and die makers. The median is $63,430, ranking 26 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 452 occupations Rhode Island reports figures for, this is number 226.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $63,430 the take-home is $51,187, which is worth about $50,475 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $65,410, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Rhode Island occupies the middle band for tool and die makers: a median of $63,430, ranking 26 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Rhode Island's occupational distribution, tool and die makers sits at 226 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.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for tool and die makers on its $63,430 median: $51,187 retained after tax becomes $50,475 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $65,410 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Tool and Die Makers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,520 |
| This salary | $63,430 |
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 | $51,187 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,146 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,216 |
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 | $60,992 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,099 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,430 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $43,750 and the ninetieth is $83,520 — 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 $51,187, worked from $63,430. 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 226 of 452.
- Two cautions on $50,475, the adjusted value of that $63,430 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 226 of 452 locally.
- The Rhode Island median of $63,430 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $43,750 to $83,520. 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 $51,187, on $63,430 for work ranking 226 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 226 of 452 in the state.
- This $50,475 adjusted figure, worked from $63,430, 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 226 of 452 in the state. The occupation ranks 226 of 452 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $65,410, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $43,750 at the tenth percentile, $83,520 at the ninetieth.
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 $50,475 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 $51,187.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 $65,410. 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 ($43,750 to $83,520) 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 $50,475 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 $51,187 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.