Transportation Security Screeners in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,876
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$14,634
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,084
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
$71,510
Kept after tax
$56,876
Worth in national money
$56,084
State rank
8
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Rhode Island is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $71,510, which ranks 8 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 7.1% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Rhode Island, this sits in the middle: 195 of 452 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Rhode Island costs about what the country costs, so from $71,510, take-home of $56,876 is worth roughly $56,084 in national money. The average lands at $68,450, below the middle of the range.
- Rhode Island ranks 8 of 45 states publishing a median for transportation security screeners, at $71,510 — about 7.1% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Transportation security screeners ranks 195 of 452 occupations in Rhode Island by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Rhode Island is near the national base, so for transportation security screeners, whose median is $71,510, the adjusted figure of $56,084 differs little from $56,876 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $68,450 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Transportation Security Screeners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,440 |
| This salary | $71,510 |
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 | $56,876 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,137 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,773 |
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 | $68,295 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,396 |
| 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 $71,510. The published range is $45,680 up to $78,440, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $56,876 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $71,510. 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 195 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 $56,084, the adjusted value of that $71,510 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 195 of 452 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for transportation security screeners in Rhode Island the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,680 to $78,440. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $56,876, from $71,510, 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 195 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $56,084 — the adjusted value of that $71,510 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 195 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 $68,450, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $45,680 at the bottom tenth to $78,440 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $56,084 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $56,876.
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.
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 $68,450. 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 ($45,680 to $78,440) 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 $56,084 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 $56,876 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.