Hazardous Materials Removal Workers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,560
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$7,050
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,079
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
$38,610
Kept after tax
$31,560
Worth in national money
$35,079
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays this job a middle wage of $38,610, 49 of 51 states and about 21.92% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 359 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $38,610 the take-home is $31,560; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $35,079 would nationally. The average comes to $43,820, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama's $38,610 median for hazardous materials removal workers places it 49 of 51 states, about 21.92% 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.
- Position 359 of 482 in Alabama places hazardous materials removal workers 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 hazardous materials removal workers in Alabama, on $38,610, is $31,560 — equivalent to $35,079 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 $43,820 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,160 |
| This salary | $38,610 |
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 | $31,560 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,203 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$910 |
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 | $36,565 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,101 |
| 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 $38,610. The published range is $34,450 up to $59,160, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $31,560, from $38,610, 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 359 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 $35,079, the adjusted value of that $38,610 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 359 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for hazardous materials removal workers in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,450 to $59,160. 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 $31,560 from $38,610. 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 359 of 482 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $35,079 — the adjusted value of that $38,610 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 359 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 $43,820 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,450 at the tenth percentile, $59,160 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $35,079.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Alabama then takes its own share, leaving $31,560.
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 $43,820. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,450 to $59,160) 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 $35,079 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 $31,560 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.