Live in Alabama, work in Georgia
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Georgia takes
$2,395
on wages earned there
Alabama takes
$189
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,584
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
credit covers itAlabama charges more, so its credit covers everything Georgia takes. Both states collect; your total does not change. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Alabama bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Good news for this route. Working in Georgia costs you nothing extra, because Alabama charges more than Georgia does and gives you credit for everything Georgia takes. Your year comes to $2,584, the same as if you never left Alabama for work. What changes is the paperwork, not the money — two states will want a return from you.
- More people make this crossing than any other into Georgia. About 54,185 jobs there are held by people living in Alabama — the biggest of the 5 routes of this size into the state. Whatever this page says about the tax, it is describing a very well-worn road.
- Both states tax these wages and the commuter pays no more than they would have at home. Georgia takes its non-resident share first — $2,395 at the reference salary — and Alabama, whose own liability on the same income is the larger of the two, credits that amount in full and collects the balance. The total is $2,584, identical to what an earner living and working in Alabama would owe. ⚠️ The money is split between two treasuries rather than reduced, which matters at filing time: two state returns, not one.
- Measured against every other state sending commuters into Georgia, this is the largest single flow: 54,185 jobs held by Alabama residents, ahead of all 5 corridors of this size into that state. Census LODES counts jobs rather than people, so a worker holding two positions in Georgia appears twice.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$3,202
- Yours$58,391
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4.27% | $3,202 |
| Yours77.85% | $58,391 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Georgia takes, on wages earned there | $2,395 |
|---|---|
| Alabama charges its residents | $2,584 |
| Less the credit Alabama gives | $2,395 |
| Total state tax | $2,584 |
| If you also worked in Alabama | $2,584 |
| Difference | $0 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Georgia is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for Alabama residents.
- These numbers assume the job in Georgia is your only income, and that you actually go there to work. Both matter. If you earn money in more than one state, the credit Alabama gives is worked out as a share rather than the simple cap used here. And if you work from home some days, some states have rules that treat those days as worked at the office anyway.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Alabama and Georgia takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Georgia or Alabama carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Georgia and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Alabama limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Georgia portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Georgia rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Alabama to Georgia comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Georgia's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Alabama and Georgia?
Both states tax the same wages, and then one of them backs off. Georgia taxes what you earn inside it. Alabama taxes you on everything, then subtracts what Georgia already took, up to the size of its own bill. You end up paying the larger of the two, which is $2,584 a year on this route.
Does working in Georgia cost me anything extra?
It costs you nothing in tax. $2,584 is what you owe whether you work in Georgia or at home in Alabama. The only real cost of the crossing is the extra return.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Alabama and Georgia?
Expect two. Living in Alabama means filing there on everything you earn. Working in Georgia usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Alabama some days instead of going to Georgia?
Working from home usually moves that day's pay out of Georgia and into Alabama alone. A handful of states disagree and tax remote days as if you had commuted. This page assumes you actually travel to Georgia, so if a lot of your week is at home the split will differ from what you see here.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Georgia on a source basis, Alabama on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,584 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Alabama's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Georgia's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,584. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Georgia.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Alabama requires a resident return reporting all income; Georgia requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Alabama fall outside Georgia's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Georgia throughout.