Dental Assistants in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,917
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$7,163
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,475
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
$39,080
Kept after tax
$31,917
Worth in national money
$35,475
State rank
48
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for dental assistants is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $39,080. That is 48 of 50 states, and about 18.7% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Dental assistants ranks 352 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $39,080 the take-home is $31,917; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $35,475 would nationally. The average comes to $41,710, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For dental assistants, Alabama sits in the lower band at $39,080, ranking 48 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 18.7%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 352 of 482 in Alabama places dental assistants 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.
- Post-tax income for dental assistants in Alabama, on $39,080, is $31,917 — equivalent to $35,475 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 $41,710 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,400 |
| This salary | $39,080 |
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 | $31,917 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,581 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$918 |
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 | $37,010 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,111 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,080 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,840 and the ninetieth is $51,400 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $31,917, worked from $39,080. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 352 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,475 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 352.
- The Alabama median of $39,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,840 to $51,400. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Alabama take-home of $31,917, on $39,080 for work ranking 352 of 482 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 352 of 482 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,475, worked from $39,080, 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 352 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 $41,710, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,840 at the bottom tenth to $51,400 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $35,475 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Alabama then takes its own share, leaving $31,917.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $41,710. 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 ($30,840 to $51,400) 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 $35,475 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 $31,917 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.