Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,454
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$15,126
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,636
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
$70,580
Kept after tax
$55,454
Worth in national money
$61,636
State rank
38
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $70,580. That is 38 of 45 states, and about 11.05% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 126 of 482 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $70,580 the take-home is $55,454; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $61,636 would nationally. The average comes to $72,140, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary, Alabama sits in the lower band at $70,580, ranking 38 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 11.05%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary ranks 126 of 482 occupations in Alabama by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Alabama, on $70,580, is $55,454 — equivalent to $61,636 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 $72,140 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $70,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,300 |
| This salary | $70,580 |
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 | $55,454 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,483 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,453 |
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 | $66,302 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,007 |
| 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 $70,580. The published range is $52,750 up to $95,300, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $55,454, from $70,580, 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 126 of 482 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $61,636, the adjusted value of that $70,580 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 126 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $52,750 to $95,300. 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 $55,454 from $70,580. 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 126 of 482 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $61,636 — the adjusted value of that $70,580 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 126 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $52,750 and the top tenth $95,300, so most people doing this work in Alabama sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $61,636 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 $55,454 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($52,750 to $95,300) 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 $61,636 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 $55,454 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.