Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,079
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$17,461
22.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,777
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
$77,540
Kept after tax
$60,079
Worth in national money
$66,777
State rank
43
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays this job a middle wage of $77,540, 43 of 49 states and about 8.37% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 482 occupations Alabama reports, this job comes in at 101 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $77,540 the take-home is $60,079; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,777 would nationally. The average comes to $91,440, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama's $77,540 median for biological science teachers, postsecondary places it 43 of 49 states, about 8.37% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Biological science teachers, postsecondary ranks 101 of 482 occupations by median in Alabama, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for biological science teachers, postsecondary in Alabama, on $77,540, is $60,079 — equivalent to $66,777 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 $91,440 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $161,460 |
| This salary | $77,540 |
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 | $60,079 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,379 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,555 |
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 | $72,848 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,147 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,540 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $49,800 and the ninetieth is $161,460 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $60,079 take-home in Alabama comes from $77,540. 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 101 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,777 uses one figure for the whole of Alabama. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 101.
- The Alabama median of $77,540 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $49,800 to $161,460. 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 $60,079, from $77,540, 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 101 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,777, worked from $77,540, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Alabama address, on work sitting at 101 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $91,440, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $49,800 at the bottom tenth to $161,460 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $66,777 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Alabama's own levy, $60,079 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $91,440. 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 ($49,800) and the ninetieth ($161,460) 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 $66,777 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 $60,079 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.