Tour and Travel Guides in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,945
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$6,365
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,501
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
$38,310
Kept after tax
$31,945
Worth in national money
$31,501
State rank
21
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Rhode Island pays tour and travel guides around $38,310 at the midpoint, 21 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 452 occupations Rhode Island publishes, tour and travel guides lands at 399. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $38,310, take-home of $31,945 is worth roughly $31,501 in national money. The average comes to $46,710, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For tour and travel guides the Rhode Island median is $38,310, ranking 21 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Rhode Island, this work ranks 399 of 452 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for tour and travel guides, whose median is $38,310, the adjusted figure of $31,501 differs little from $31,945 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $46,710 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Tour and Travel Guides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $96,450 |
| This salary | $38,310 |
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 | $31,945 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,962 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,420 |
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 | $37,045 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,926 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $38,310 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,270 and the ninetieth is $96,450 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $31,945 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $38,310. 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 399 of 452.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,501 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 399.
- The Rhode Island median of $38,310 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,270 to $96,450. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $31,945, from $38,310, 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 399 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,501, worked from $38,310, 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 399 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 $46,710, 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 $32,270 at the bottom tenth to $96,450 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $31,501 — 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, $31,945 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 $46,710. 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 ($32,270) and the ninetieth ($96,450) 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 $31,501 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 $31,945 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.