Food Processing Workers, All Other in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,725
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$6,785
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,150
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
$37,510
Kept after tax
$30,725
Worth in national money
$34,150
State rank
36
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays food processing workers, all other a middle wage of $37,510, 36 of 46 states and about 5.47% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Alabama this is lower-paid work. Of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, food processing workers, all other ranks 377. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $37,510 you keep $30,725 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $34,150 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $37,790, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alabama's $37,510 median for food processing workers, all other places it 36 of 46 states, about 5.47% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Alabama reports, food processing workers, all other ranks 377 of 482, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $30,725 after the full tax stack, from $37,510. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,150 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,790 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Processing Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,860 |
| This salary | $37,510 |
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 | $30,725 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,319 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$891 |
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 | $35,526 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,078 |
| 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 $37,510. The published range is $35,140 up to $41,860, 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 $30,725, worked from $37,510. 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 377 of 482.
- Two cautions on $34,150, the adjusted value of that $37,510 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 377 of 482 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for food processing workers, all other in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,140 to $41,860. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alabama take-home of $30,725, on $37,510 for work ranking 377 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 377 of 482 in the state.
- This $34,150 adjusted figure, worked from $37,510, 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 377 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 377 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,140 and the top tenth $41,860, so most people doing this work in Alabama sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $34,150 in national terms.
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 $30,725 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 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,140 to $41,860) 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 $34,150 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 $30,725 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.