Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,278
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$4,722
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,984
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
$29,000
Kept after tax
$24,278
Worth in national money
$26,984
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for food servers, nonrestaurant. The middle earner takes $29,000, ranking 47 of 51 states — about 17.99% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Alabama, this one sits low: 449 of 482 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $29,000 you keep $24,278 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $26,984 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $29,110, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alabama ranks 47 of 51 for food servers, nonrestaurant, with a median of $29,000 — about 17.99% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Food servers, nonrestaurant occupies position 449 of 482 in Alabama's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $24,278 after the full tax stack, from $29,000. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $26,984 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $29,110 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $35,770 |
| This salary | $29,000 |
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 | $24,278 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,482 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$762 |
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 | $27,526 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$922 |
| 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 $29,000. The published range is $23,080 up to $35,770, 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 $24,278, worked from $29,000. 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 449 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,984, the adjusted value of that $29,000 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 449 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for food servers, nonrestaurant in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,080 to $35,770. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alabama take-home of $24,278, on $29,000 for work ranking 449 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 449 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $26,984 — the adjusted value of that $29,000 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 449 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $23,080 at the bottom tenth to $35,770 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 $26,984 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 $24,278 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($23,080 to $35,770) 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 $26,984 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 $24,278 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.