Editors in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,335
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$12,995
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,947
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
$63,330
Kept after tax
$50,335
Worth in national money
$55,947
State rank
27
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Alabama is 27 of 50 states for editors, with a middle wage of $63,330. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Editors ranks 159 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $63,330 you keep $50,335, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,947 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $72,280, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alabama ranks 27 of 50 for editors at $63,330. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 159 of 482 in Alabama places editors 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.
- After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for editors on $63,330 is $50,335. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,947 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $72,280 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Editors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,890 |
| This salary | $63,330 |
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 | $50,335 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,066 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,338 |
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 | $59,932 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,618 |
| 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 $63,330. The published range is $35,600 up to $103,890, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $50,335, worked from $63,330. 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 159 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,947 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 159.
- Reported values are medians; for editors in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,600 to $103,890. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alabama take-home of $50,335, on $63,330 for work ranking 159 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 159 of 482 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,947, worked from $63,330, 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 159 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $72,280, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $35,600 and the top tenth $103,890 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Alabama is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $55,947 in national terms.
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, $50,335 remains.
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 50 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 $72,280. 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 ($35,600) and the ninetieth ($103,890) 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 $55,947 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 $50,335 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.