Food Service Managers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,092
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$12,918
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,676
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
$63,010
Kept after tax
$50,092
Worth in national money
$55,676
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food service managers is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $63,010. That is 39 of 51 states, and about 9.19% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Food service managers ranks 160 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $63,010 the take-home is $50,092; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $55,676 would nationally. The average comes to $69,200, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For food service managers, Alabama sits in the lower band at $63,010, ranking 39 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.19%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 160 of 482 in Alabama places food service managers 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.
- Post-tax income for food service managers in Alabama, on $63,010, is $50,092 — equivalent to $55,676 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 $69,200 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Food Service Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,450 |
| This salary | $63,010 |
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 | $50,092 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,809 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,333 |
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 | $59,629 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,612 |
| 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 $63,010. The published range is $45,770 up to $97,450, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $50,092, from $63,010, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 160 of 482 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,676 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 160.
- Reported values are medians; for food service managers in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,770 to $97,450. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Alabama is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $50,092 from $63,010. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 160 of 482 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,676, worked from $63,010, 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 160 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 $69,200, 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 $45,770 and the top tenth $97,450 — 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 $55,676 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 $50,092 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.
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 $69,200. 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 ($45,770) and the ninetieth ($97,450) 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 $55,676 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 $50,092 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.