Broadcast Technicians in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,153
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$9,137
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,406
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
$47,290
Kept after tax
$38,153
Worth in national money
$42,406
State rank
27
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama sits in the middle of the pack for broadcast technicians. The median is $47,290, ranking 27 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Broadcast technicians ranks 283 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,290 you keep $38,153 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,406 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $50,140, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alabama occupies the middle band for broadcast technicians: a median of $47,290, ranking 27 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 283 of 482 in Alabama places broadcast technicians in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $38,153 after the full tax stack, from $47,290. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,406 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $50,140 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Broadcast Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,410 |
| This salary | $47,290 |
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 | $38,153 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,178 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,061 |
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 | $44,770 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,283 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of broadcast technicians in Alabama earn under $47,290 and half over. The published range runs $27,680 at the tenth percentile to $79,410 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,153 take-home in Alabama comes from $47,290. 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 283 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,406 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 283.
- Figures are distribution medians for broadcast technicians in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,680 to $79,410; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $38,153, from $47,290, 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 283 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,406, worked from $47,290, 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 283 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 $50,140, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $27,680 and the top tenth $79,410 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $42,406 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, $38,153 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $50,140. 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 ($27,680) and the ninetieth ($79,410) 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 $42,406 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 $38,153 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.