Environmental Engineers Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $101K, rent takes 24.4% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,544/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new environmental engineers typically earn — is $84K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $5,039/month. At HUD’s $1,544/month FMR, rent would take 31% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $101K locally vs. $107K nationally, a 6% difference.

Rhode Island pays $101K median vs. the U.S. average of $107K — that’s -6%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 101.77), the purchasing-power equivalent is $99K — below the national median.

The median is $101,140 a year, that works out to about $49 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $83,980, and experienced environmental engineers can clear $135,800. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $6,329/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,544/month, which eats 24.4% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Rhode Island has a Regional Price Parity of 101.77 (100 is the national average). Prices are above average here, so your dollar buys less than the same salary would in a cheaper metro. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median environmental engineers salary is worth about $99,381 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.