Crane and Tower Operators in Alabama

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,406
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$12,384
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,802
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
$60,790
Kept after tax
$48,406
Worth in national money
$53,802
State rank
40
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for crane and tower operators is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $60,790. That is 40 of 50 states, and about 10.71% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 482 occupations Alabama reports figures for, this is number 189.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,790 the take-home is $48,406; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $53,802 would nationally. The average comes to $61,170, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For crane and tower operators, Alabama sits in the lower band at $60,790, ranking 40 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 10.71%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Alabama's occupational distribution, crane and tower operators sits at 189 of 482 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for crane and tower operators in Alabama, on $60,790, is $48,406 — equivalent to $53,802 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 $61,170 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Crane and Tower Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $99,380 |
| This salary | $60,790 |
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 | $48,406 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,025 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,294 |
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 | $57,531 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,565 |
| 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 crane and tower operators in Alabama earn under $60,790 and half over. The published range runs $37,650 at the tenth percentile to $99,380 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,406 take-home in Alabama comes from $60,790. 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 189 of 482.
- Two cautions on $53,802, the adjusted value of that $60,790 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Alabama. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 189 of 482 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for crane and tower operators in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,650 to $99,380; 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 $48,406, from $60,790, 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 189 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 50 for it.
- This $53,802 adjusted figure, worked from $60,790, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 189 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 189 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,650 at the bottom tenth to $99,380 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $53,802.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Alabama adds its own income tax on top — which is why $48,406 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,650) and the ninetieth ($99,380) 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 $53,802 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 $48,406 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.