Curators in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,657
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$12,463
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,081
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
$61,120
Kept after tax
$48,657
Worth in national money
$54,081
State rank
25
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Alabama pays curators around $61,120 at the midpoint, 25 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 482 occupations Alabama reports figures for, this is number 184.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $61,120 the take-home is $48,657; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,081 would nationally. The average comes to $64,510, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For curators the Alabama median is $61,120, ranking 25 of 49 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Alabama's occupational distribution, curators sits at 184 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 curators in Alabama, on $61,120, is $48,657 — equivalent to $54,081 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 $64,510 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Curators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,470 |
| This salary | $61,120 |
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 | $48,657 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,290 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,300 |
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 | $57,843 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,572 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Alabama earn less than $61,120. The published range is $40,800 up to $98,470, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $48,657 take-home in Alabama comes from $61,120. 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 184 of 482.
- Two cautions on $54,081, the adjusted value of that $61,120 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 184 of 482 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for curators in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,800 to $98,470. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $48,657, from $61,120, 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 184 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 49 for it.
- This $54,081 adjusted figure, worked from $61,120, 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 184 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 184 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 $64,510, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $40,800 at the bottom tenth to $98,470 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $54,081 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $48,657 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $64,510. 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 ($40,800) and the ninetieth ($98,470) 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 $54,081 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 $48,657 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.