Environmental Engineers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,764
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$25,886
25.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,322
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
$102,650
Kept after tax
$76,764
Worth in national money
$85,322
State rank
25
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama sits in the middle of the pack for environmental engineers. The median is $102,650, ranking 25 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 482 occupations Alabama reports, environmental engineers comes in at 42 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $102,650 the take-home is $76,764; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $85,322 would nationally. The average comes to $107,220, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama occupies the middle band for environmental engineers: a median of $102,650, ranking 25 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Environmental engineers ranks 42 of 482 occupations by median in Alabama, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for environmental engineers in Alabama, on $102,650, is $76,764 — equivalent to $85,322 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 $107,220 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Environmental Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $102,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $158,910 |
| This salary | $102,650 |
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 | $76,764 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,044 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,922 |
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 | $96,566 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,655 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $102,650 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $66,720 and the ninetieth is $158,910 — 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 $76,764, worked from $102,650. 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 42 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $85,322 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 42.
- The Alabama median of $102,650 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $66,720 to $158,910. 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 $76,764, on $102,650 for work ranking 42 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 42 of 482 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $85,322, worked from $102,650, 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 42 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $107,220 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $66,720 at the bottom tenth to $158,910 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $85,322 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, $76,764 remains.
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 $107,220. 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 ($66,720) and the ninetieth ($158,910) 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 $85,322 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 $76,764 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.