Waiters and Waitresses in Rhode Island
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,732
after federal, FICA and Rhode Island tax
Tax takes
$5,688
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,318
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
$35,420
Kept after tax
$29,732
Worth in national money
$29,318
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Rhode Island sits in the middle of the pack for waiters and waitresses. The median is $35,420, ranking 23 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Rhode Island, this one sits low: 433 of 452 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $35,420 the take-home is $29,732, which is worth about $29,318 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $42,740, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Rhode Island occupies the middle band for waiters and waitresses: a median of $35,420, ranking 23 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Waiters and waitresses occupies position 433 of 452 in Rhode Island's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Rhode Island's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for waiters and waitresses on its $35,420 median: $29,732 retained after tax becomes $29,318 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $42,740 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Waiters and Waitresses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,680 |
| This salary | $35,420 |
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 | $29,732 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,640 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,213 |
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 | $34,290 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,676 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,420 as a midpoint for Rhode Island, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,200 and the ninetieth is $62,680 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $29,732 take-home in Rhode Island comes from $35,420. 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 433 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 $29,318, the adjusted value of that $35,420 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 433 of 452 in the state.
- The Rhode Island median of $35,420 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,200 to $62,680. 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 $29,732, from $35,420, 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 433 of 452 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Rhode Island, so $29,318 — the adjusted value of that $35,420 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 433 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 $42,740, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $31,200 and the top tenth $62,680 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $29,318 — 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 $29,732.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $42,740. 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 ($31,200) and the ninetieth ($62,680) 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 $29,318 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 $29,732 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.