Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,329
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$24,151
24.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,504
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
$97,480
Kept after tax
$73,329
Worth in national money
$81,504
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $97,480. That is 40 of 51 states, and about 7.92% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Alabama. It ranks 57 out of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $97,480 you keep $73,329, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $81,504 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $96,800, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For education administrators, kindergarten through secondary, Alabama sits in the lower band at $97,480, ranking 40 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.92%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Alabama, education administrators, kindergarten through secondary ranks 57 of 482 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for education administrators, kindergarten through secondary on $97,480 is $73,329. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $81,504 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 $96,800 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,070 |
| This salary | $97,480 |
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 | $73,329 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,407 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,846 |
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 | $91,683 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,550 |
| 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 education administrators, kindergarten through secondary in Alabama earn under $97,480 and half over. The published range runs $76,150 at the tenth percentile to $123,070 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $73,329, worked from $97,480. 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 57 of 482.
- Two cautions on $81,504, the adjusted value of that $97,480 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 57 of 482 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for education administrators, kindergarten through secondary in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $76,150 to $123,070; 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.
- The Alabama take-home of $73,329, on $97,480 for work ranking 57 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 57 of 482 in the state.
- This $81,504 adjusted figure, worked from $97,480, 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 57 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 57 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $76,150 at the bottom tenth to $123,070 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 $81,504 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 $73,329 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($76,150 to $123,070) 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 $81,504 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 $73,329 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.