How Much Does a Medical Assistant Make in Rhode Island in 2026?

A typical Medical Assistant in Rhode Island earns about $22.69 per hour ($47,190 per year), according to the latest government wage data (May 2025). That works out to roughly $3,932 a month and $908 a week, calculated from the annual figure. Pay varies by employer and setting, but this figure represents typical earnings across the state for clinical medical assistants and MAs alike.

That pay sits 3% above the national typical wage of $45,690 a year ($21.97 an hour) for Medical Assistants, and it ranks Rhode Island 18th out of all 51 states for this occupation. Around 3,210 Medical Assistants work in the state, compared with 817,870 nationwide. The higher pay reflects Rhode Island's cost of living, which runs above the national level in much of the state.

Entry-level Medical Assistants in Rhode Island typically start around $18.89 an hour, or about $39,280 a year. That's the starting point for many new MAs, particularly those without much clinical experience. Pay typically moves toward the state's typical figure of $47,190 a year within the first few years on the job.

With more experience, Medical Assistants often earn upwards of $23.38 an hour, or about $48,630 a year. The top 10% of earners make over $56,840 a year, roughly $27.33 an hour. The gap between entry-level and top pay comes to $17,560, reflecting differences in years of experience, work setting, and city.

Medical Assistant pay in Rhode Island has risen steadily over the past decade, climbing from $33,240 in 2015 to $47,190 in 2025. That's a gain of $13,950, a 42% increase over ten years. The rise has been fairly steady each year, with a notable jump between 2022 and 2023.

Nationally, Medical Assistant pay rose 49% over the same period, running a bit ahead of Rhode Island's 42% climb. Rhode Island's yearly figures moved up every single year across the decade, without a single dip. Someone starting out today enters a field where pay has moved up substantially over the past ten years, though past gains don't guarantee future increases.

Pay for Medical Assistants is fairly uniform across Rhode Island's reported metro areas. Providence, home to the state's largest Medical Assistant workforce at about 4,120 workers, pays $47,020 a year ($22.61 an hour); these figures cover the full Providence metro area rather than the city alone. Warwick reports the identical figure, $47,020 a year, with a similarly sized workforce.

Warwick, the state's other reported metro area, matches Providence at $47,020 a year, leaving essentially no spread between the two, about $0. That uniformity is unusual compared with larger states, where pay can vary by thousands of dollars between cities depending on local living costs. In Rhode Island, cost of living plays less of a role in setting pay from one city to the next.

Rhode Island's Medical Assistant pay compares closely with its neighbors. Massachusetts pays more, at $49,460 a year, about 5% above Rhode Island's figure. Connecticut runs slightly higher too, at $47,430 a year, roughly 1% above. Medical assistant licensure or registration typically transfers or endorses fairly easily between neighboring states, so crossing state lines for work is often straightforward.

Medical Assistants in Rhode Island typically earn $47,190 a year, up 42% over the past decade from $33,240 in 2015. Pay runs close to national levels and is fairly consistent across Providence and Warwick. Readers weighing a move into the field can check Rhode Island's licensing or registry requirements and compare local figures on the Providence and Warwick city pages for a closer look at pay where they plan to work.