Bakers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,086
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$5,944
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,217
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
$34,030
Kept after tax
$28,086
Worth in national money
$31,217
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for bakers. The middle earner takes $34,030, ranking 44 of 51 states — about 8.42% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Alabama, this one sits low: 424 of 482 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $34,030 you keep $28,086 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $31,217 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $33,440.
- Alabama ranks 44 of 51 for bakers, with a median of $34,030 — about 8.42% 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.
- Bakers occupies position 424 of 482 in Alabama's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $28,086 after the full tax stack, from $34,030. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $31,217 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,440 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,600 |
| This salary | $34,030 |
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 | $28,086 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,523 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$835 |
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 | $32,241 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,010 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,030 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $20,940 and the ninetieth is $44,600 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $28,086 take-home in Alabama comes from $34,030. 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 424 of 482.
- Two cautions on $31,217, the adjusted value of that $34,030 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Alabama. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 424 of 482 locally.
- The Alabama median of $34,030 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $20,940 to $44,600. 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 $28,086, from $34,030, 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 424 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 51 for it.
- This $31,217 adjusted figure, worked from $34,030, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 424 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 424 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $20,940 at the tenth percentile, $44,600 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Alabama sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $31,217 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Alabama adds its own income tax on top — which is why $28,086 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($20,940 to $44,600) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Alabama rather than a national figure.
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 $31,217 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 $28,086 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.