What Receptionists and Information Clerks earn in Providence County, RI
The median pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Providence County, RI is $41,720 per year, which works out to $20.06 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metropolitan area, the labor market that Providence County, RI belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $41,970, which is 0.6% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 5,550 people working in this occupation across the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Providence County, RI has roughly 664,854 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $33,850 a year ($16.27 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $49,680 or more ($23.88 an hour). That is a gap of $15,830 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $36,060 at the 25th percentile and $46,760 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.5 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Providence County, RI is $20.06. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $41,720, and the same salary is $3,477 a month before taxes or about $1,605 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $16.68 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Receptionists and Information Clerks
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Receptionists and Information Clerks this way: "Answer inquiries and provide information to the general public, customers, visitors, and other interested parties regarding activities conducted at establishment and location of departments, offices, and employees within the organization."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Operate telephone switchboard to answer, screen, or forward calls, providing information, taking messages, or scheduling appointments"; "Receive payment and record receipts for services"; "Perform administrative support tasks, such as proofreading, transcribing handwritten information, or operating calculators or computers to work with pay records, invoices, balance sheets, or other documents"; "Greet persons entering establishment, determine nature and purpose of visit, and direct or escort them to specific destinations".
Job outlook for Receptionists and Information Clerks
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to shrink from 947,500 jobs in 2025 to 931,600 in 2035, a change of -1.7%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 105,100 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 11.1% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $38,010 for this occupation; the Providence County, RI median of $41,720 is 9.8% above it.
How pay in Providence County, RI compares
Compared with the Rhode Island average
Pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Providence County, RI is in line with the statewide figure: $41,720 locally against an employment-weighted Rhode Island average of $41,720, a difference of only $0 (0.0%). Within Rhode Island, Providence County, RI already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Receptionists and Information Clerks is $38,603 across the contiguous United States. At $41,720, Providence County, RI pays $3,117 more, which is 8.1% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Providence County, RI
Among the 512 occupations with published wages in Providence County, RI, Receptionists and Information Clerks ranks number 443 by median pay, ahead of about 14% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $110,360 a year, which is $68,640 more than the median for Receptionists and Information Clerks.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $41,720 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $7,034 a year, which leaves $34,686, or $2,891 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 16.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $25,970. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,878, an effective 6.9% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,587 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $605. FICA totals $3,192, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Rhode Island
Rhode Island income tax on this salary is $965 a year, or 2.3% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 34% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $80 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Providence County, RI
IRS Statistics of Income data for Providence County, RI show an average adjusted gross income of $72,802 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.2% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.1%, compared with the 6.9% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Providence County, RI
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Providence County, RI: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $34,686 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Providence County, RI is $1,509 a month, or $18,108 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,879 a month. For Receptionists and Information Clerks, a one-bedroom absorbs 52.2% of take-home pay and 43.4% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 8.2% of gross pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Providence County, RI. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Rhode Island residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $3,027 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $859, for $3,886 in total. Gasoline in Rhode Island averages $3.34 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,546.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $26,976 a year, 78% of take-home pay. That leaves $7,710 a year, or $643 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 18.5% of gross pay, a workable but modest cushion.
Local housing and commute data for Providence County, RI
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Providence County, RI: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Providence County, RI, set beside the Rhode Island and national medians.
Property taxes in Providence County, RI
Homeowners in Providence County, RI pay a median of $4,683 a year in real estate taxes, 4% below the Rhode Island median of $4,900 and 50% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $373,600, the median tax bill is 1.25% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Receptionists and Information Clerks median of $41,720, a tax bill of that size would equal 11.2% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Providence County, RI
Renters in Providence County, RI pay a median gross rent of $1,312 a month in the Census survey, 2% below the Rhode Island median of $1,342. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,509 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $373,600, 8% below the Rhode Island median of $404,200. Median household income is $78,787, 10% below the Rhode Island median of $87,796, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 23.0% of that income.
Commuting in Providence County, RI
Workers in Providence County, RI who travel to a workplace spend an average of 25.9 minutes each way, 2% above the Rhode Island average of 25.5. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 12.3% of workers in Providence County, RI work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Receptionists and Information Clerks afford to live in Providence County, RI?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $41,720 that ceiling is $1,043 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,509 is $466 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $29.02 an hour; the median for Receptionists and Information Clerks is $20.06, which is 31% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $16.68 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 20.9 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,879 a month means $940 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,834 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $14,544.
How fast you can save
At $643 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 16 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 32 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Receptionists and Information Clerks pay in Providence County, RI
What is the hourly wage for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Providence County, RI?
The median is $20.06 per hour, based on $41,720 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.27 at the 10th percentile to $23.88 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Providence County, RI?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $41,720 becomes $34,686 a year. That is $2,891 a month, $1,334 every two weeks or $667 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Providence County, RI?
Total taxes are $7,034 a year, an effective rate of 16.9%: $2,878 federal income tax, $3,192 FICA and $965 Rhode Island income tax.
Is pay for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Providence County, RI above the Rhode Island average?
It is about the same. The local median of $41,720 is within 0.0% of the Rhode Island average of $41,720.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Receptionists and Information Clerks salary in Providence County, RI?
A one-bedroom costs $1,509 a month against take-home pay of $2,891, which is 52.2% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,043 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Receptionists and Information Clerks in Providence County, RI?
About $643 a month ($7,710 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,976 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Providence County, RI at the 30% guideline?
$29.02 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $18,108 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Receptionists and Information Clerks is $20.06.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Rhode Island rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.