Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Alabama

A hard hat, safety glasses and tool belt beside timber house framing.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$30,672

after federal, FICA and Alabama tax

Tax takes

$6,768

18.1% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$34,091

Alabama costs less than average

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

$37,440

Kept after tax

$30,672

Worth in national money

$34,091

State rank

41

of 48 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Alabama is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $37,440, ranking 41 of 48 states — about 11.61% 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: 379 of 482 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
  • Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $37,440 the take-home is $30,672; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,091 would nationally. The average comes to $37,470, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Alabama ranks 41 of 48 for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, with a median of $37,440 — about 11.61% 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.
  • Helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters occupies position 379 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.
  • Post-tax income for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Alabama, on $37,440, is $30,672 — equivalent to $34,091 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 $37,470 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$27,080
Half earn under$37,440
Top tenth earn over$47,650
This salary$37,440

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

Compare with
+$1,591take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Alabama$30,672
Take-home in Texas$32,263
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$890

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

Moving to
$0$38,516
$38,516in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$35,459
Raise you would need+$1,076
Prices in Texas97 vs 90

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Alabama earn under $37,440 and half over. The published range runs $27,080 at the tenth percentile to $47,650 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • That $30,672 take-home in Alabama comes from $37,440. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 379 of 482.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,091, the adjusted value of that $37,440 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 379 of 482 in the state.
  • Figures are distribution medians for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,080 to $47,650; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
  • Retained pay of $30,672, from $37,440, assumes a single Alabama filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 379 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 48 for it.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $34,091 — the adjusted value of that $37,440 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 379 of 482 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $27,080 at the tenth percentile, $47,650 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 $34,091.

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 $30,672 of this wage survives to your account.

Why is this job missing from some states?

The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($27,080 to $47,650) 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 $34,091 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 $30,672 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.