Median pay · Rhode Island
$87,180A year, or $42 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $78,270 | $38 |
| 25th percentile | $80,660 | $39 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $87,180 | $42 |
| 75th percentile | $113,060 | $54 |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $140,450 | $68 |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $98,270 | $47 |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in Rhode IslandBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$87,180
- Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$41.91
- Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$5,624 a month at an effective rate of 22.6%.$67,492 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in Rhode Island sit at 102.3 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$85,237
- Against the national medianThe national median is $112,860.22.8% below
- Jobs countedA concentration of 0.66 against the nation's 1.00.50
What we assumed
- Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
- OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
- Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
- Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
What lands in the bank
Tax year 2026 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $87,180 in Rhode Island, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
Run the numbers on your own pay
Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.
What $87,180 is worth in Rhode Island
Prices in Rhode Island sit at 102.3 against a national average of 100, so $87,180 earned here buys what $85,237 buys at national average prices.
- Rents. 105.6 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
- Against local households. The median household in Rhode Island takes in $87,796, so this occupation's median is 0.99 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 34% less concentrated in Rhode Island than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for materials engineers in Rhode Island
Even the lowest-paid 10% of materials engineers in Rhode Island make at least $78,270 a year.
The median in Rhode Island is 22.8% below the national median of $112,860.
Common questions
Materials Engineers pay in Rhode Island, answered
How much do materials engineers make in Rhode Island?
The median wage for materials engineers in Rhode Island is $87,180 a year, or $41.91 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
What is the average Materials Engineers salary in Rhode Island?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for materials engineers in Rhode Island is $98,270 a year. The median is $87,180.
The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.
What is the hourly pay for materials engineers in Rhode Island?
The median hourly wage is $41.91. At a full-time year that lines up with about $87,180 a year.
BLS May 2025; hourly and annual figures come from the same survey.
What is the starting salary for materials engineers in Rhode Island?
BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in Rhode Island, the lowest-paid 10% of materials engineers earn under $78,270 a year and a quarter earn under $80,660 ($37.63 and $38.78 an hour).
New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.
What is the salary range for materials engineers in Rhode Island?
The overall salary range for materials engineers in Rhode Island spans from $78,270 for the bottom 10% to $140,450 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $80,660 and $113,060 a year, with the overall median at $87,180.
What is the take-home pay for materials engineers in Rhode Island?
On the median wage of $87,180, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $67,492 a year, or roughly $5,624 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 22.6%.
Rhode Island takes $2,669 of it in state income tax.
How much does materials engineers make a month in Rhode Island?
On the median annual salary of $87,180, estimated take-home pay is roughly $5,624 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $2,596 net.
Do materials engineers earn more in Rhode Island than in the rest of the country?
No. The median in Rhode Island is 22.8% below the national median of $112,860.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Rhode Island sit at 102.3 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
Is $87,180 a good salary in Rhode Island?
It is 0.99 times the median household income of $87,796. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in Rhode Island run at 102.3 against a national average of 100, with rents at 105.6, so $87,180 here buys about what $85,237 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid materials engineers earn in Rhode Island?
The top tenth earn $140,450 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $78,270.
Experience, specialty, employer and the part of Rhode Island someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
How many materials engineers are there in Rhode Island?
The survey counted 50 of these jobs in Rhode Island for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 34% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.