Community Health Workers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,153
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$8,187
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,072
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
$43,340
Kept after tax
$35,153
Worth in national money
$39,072
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for community health workers is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $43,340. That is 48 of 51 states, and about 16.41% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Community health workers ranks 326 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $43,340 you keep $35,153 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $39,072 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $45,050, since top earners drag the number up.
- For community health workers, Alabama sits in the lower band at $43,340, ranking 48 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 16.41%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 326 of 482 in Alabama places community health workers 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 $35,153 after the full tax stack, from $43,340. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $39,072 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $45,050 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Community Health Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,790 |
| This salary | $43,340 |
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 | $35,153 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,004 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$992 |
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 | $41,036 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,200 |
| 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 community health workers in Alabama earn under $43,340 and half over. The published range runs $33,470 at the tenth percentile to $62,790 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $35,153, from $43,340, 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 326 of 482 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,072 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 326.
- Figures are distribution medians for community health workers in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,470 to $62,790; 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 $35,153 from $43,340. 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 326 of 482 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,072, worked from $43,340, 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 326 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 $45,050, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,470 and the top tenth $62,790, so most people doing this work in Alabama sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $39,072 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, $35,153 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 $45,050. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,470 to $62,790) 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 $39,072 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 $35,153 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.
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.