The Rhode Island paycheck calculator estimates your real take-home pay after every deduction. Rhode Island uses progressive income tax brackets (3.75% / 4.75% / 5.99%), and — unusually — funds its Temporary Disability Insurance program through an employee payroll contribution, which most states do not.
How the deductions stack
The deductions stack on your gross pay:
RI taxable income = gross - RI standard deduction
RI state tax = bracketed: 3.75% / 4.75% / 5.99% on the taxable bands
RI TDI/SDI = ~1.1% of wages up to the TDI wage base
FICA = 7.65% (Social Security 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)
federal tax = gross x your estimated federal rate
take-home = gross - RI tax - TDI - FICA - federalRhode Island has no local income taxes, so the state tax is the only RI income tax in the stack.
Worked example
$70,000 gross, ~$10,550 RI standard deduction, 12% federal estimate:
- RI taxable income: 70,000 - 10,550 = $59,450
- RI state tax (progressive): roughly $2,490
- RI TDI (~1.1%): $770
- FICA (7.65%): $5,355
- Federal (12%): $8,400
- Take-home: about $52,985 per year
Understanding Rhode Island TDI — the deduction most out-of-state workers miss
Rhode Island’s Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program is one of only five state-run disability programs in the country (the others are California, Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York). It is funded entirely by employees — employers pay nothing into it. For 2024, the employee contribution rate is approximately 1.1% on wages up to the annual taxable wage base (around $87,000). After you hit the wage base, no further TDI is withheld for the rest of the year.
TDI pays a weekly benefit if you cannot work due to a non-work-related illness or injury. It covers up to 30 weeks at a replacement rate tied to your prior earnings. The program also covers Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI), which provides paid leave for bonding with a new child or caring for a seriously ill family member.
What your employer pays that you do not see
Beyond the deductions on your paycheck, your Rhode Island employer pays a matching 6.2% Social Security employer tax and a 1.45% Medicare employer tax on your wages. Unlike TDI, these employer contributions do not appear on your pay stub — but they are a real cost of employment. Rhode Island also has no employer-paid state unemployment insurance offset that reduces the employee burden.
Tips and notes
- Brackets are progressive. Only the income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate, so your effective RI rate is lower than 5.99% unless you earn a great deal.
- TDI is employee-paid. Rhode Island is one of a handful of states where the disability contribution comes out of your check, not the employer’s. The benefit is worth having — it kicks in for non-work injuries and paid family leave.
- No local tax. Unlike PA or OH, there is no municipal income tax to add to the stack.
- Federal is an estimate. Adjust the federal percentage to match your filing status and W-4 for a closer figure. If you have significant withholding adjustments, pre-tax deductions (401k, health insurance), or other income, your effective federal rate will differ from a simple percentage of gross.
- Wage base cutoffs matter. Both Social Security (6.2%) and TDI have annual wage bases above which the contribution stops. If you earn above those thresholds, your take-home pay rises later in the year when those deductions no longer apply.
Which figures change each year — and which do not
Some inputs to this estimate are stable and some are re-set annually. Knowing which is which keeps you from trusting a stale number:
| Figure | Stability | Where to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| RI bracket rates (3.75% / 4.75% / 5.99%) | Long-standing; rarely changed | RI Division of Taxation |
| RI bracket thresholds & standard deduction | Inflation-adjusted yearly | RI Division of Taxation |
| RI TDI/SDI rate (~1.1%) and wage base | Re-set every year by RI DLT | RI Dept. of Labor and Training |
| FICA rate (7.65%) | Fixed by federal law | IRS / SSA |
| Social Security wage base | Rises most years | Social Security Administration |
The 5.99% top rate has held for years, but the thresholds it applies to, the standard deduction, and the TDI wage base move annually — so re-check them for the current tax year before relying on a precise net figure.
Sources
- Rhode Island Division of Taxation — Personal Income Tax — bracket rates and thresholds.
- Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training — Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI/TCI) — the employee contribution rate and wage base.
- IRS — Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates — the 7.65% FICA split.
This tool is an estimate for planning, not tax or payroll advice; confirm current-year figures with the sources above.