Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,568
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$9,902
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,091
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
$50,470
Kept after tax
$40,568
Worth in national money
$45,091
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $50,470, ranking 50 of 51 states — about 18.29% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 246 of 482 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $50,470 you keep $40,568 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $45,091 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $54,120, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alabama ranks 50 of 51 for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists, with a median of $50,470 — about 18.29% 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.
- Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists ranks 246 of 482 occupations in Alabama by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $40,568 after the full tax stack, from $50,470. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,091 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $54,120 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,660 |
| This salary | $50,470 |
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 | $40,568 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,733 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,116 |
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 | $47,776 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,349 |
| 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 bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in Alabama earn under $50,470 and half over. The published range runs $37,470 at the tenth percentile to $75,660 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,568 take-home in Alabama comes from $50,470. 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 246 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,091, the adjusted value of that $50,470 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 246 of 482 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,470 to $75,660; 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 $40,568, from $50,470, 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 246 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 50 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $45,091 — the adjusted value of that $50,470 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 246 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 $54,120, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $37,470, the highest tenth $75,660, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $45,091 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $40,568 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $54,120. 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 ($37,470) and the ninetieth ($75,660) 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 $45,091 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 $40,568 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.