Accountants and Auditors in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,311
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$16,569
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,812
Alabama costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Alabama — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$74,880
Kept after tax
$58,311
Worth in national money
$64,812
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for accountants and auditors. The middle earner takes $74,880, ranking 44 of 51 states — about 10.52% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Alabama. It ranks 112 out of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $74,880 the take-home is $58,311; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $64,812 would nationally. The average comes to $81,080, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama ranks 44 of 51 for accountants and auditors, with a median of $74,880 — about 10.52% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Within Alabama, accountants and auditors ranks 112 of 482 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for accountants and auditors in Alabama, on $74,880, is $58,311 — equivalent to $64,812 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $81,080 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Accountants and Auditors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,170 |
| This salary | $74,880 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Alabama | $58,311 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,508 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,516 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $70,336 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,094 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $74,880 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,240 and the ninetieth is $123,170 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $58,311 take-home in Alabama comes from $74,880. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 112 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,812, the adjusted value of that $74,880 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 112 of 482 in the state.
- The Alabama median of $74,880 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,240 to $123,170. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $58,311, from $74,880, assumes a single Alabama filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 112 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $64,812 — the adjusted value of that $74,880 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 112 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $81,080 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $50,240, the highest tenth $123,170, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Alabama is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $64,812 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Alabama then takes its own share, leaving $58,311.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Alabama is $81,080. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($50,240) and the ninetieth ($123,170) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Alabama's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $64,812 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $58,311 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Alabama income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.