Commercial Pilots in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,947
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$25,473
25.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,414
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
$101,420
Kept after tax
$75,947
Worth in national money
$84,414
State rank
40
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays commercial pilots a middle wage of $101,420, 40 of 48 states and about 17.69% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Alabama. It ranks 45 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 $101,420 the take-home is $75,947; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $84,414 would nationally. The average comes to $108,580, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama's $101,420 median for commercial pilots places it 40 of 48 states, about 17.69% 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.
- Within Alabama, commercial pilots ranks 45 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 commercial pilots in Alabama, on $101,420, is $75,947 — equivalent to $84,414 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 $108,580 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $163,100 |
| This salary | $101,420 |
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 | $75,947 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,179 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,904 |
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 | $95,405 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,630 |
| 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 commercial pilots in Alabama earn under $101,420 and half over. The published range runs $57,030 at the tenth percentile to $163,100 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $75,947, from $101,420, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 45 of 482 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $84,414, the adjusted value of that $101,420 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 45 of 482 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for commercial pilots in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $57,030 to $163,100; 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.
- Take-home for Alabama is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $75,947 from $101,420. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 45 of 482 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $84,414 — the adjusted value of that $101,420 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 45 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 $108,580 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 $57,030, the highest tenth $163,100, 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 $84,414 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, $75,947 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 $108,580. 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 ($57,030) and the ninetieth ($163,100) 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 $84,414 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 $75,947 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.