Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,135
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$8,815
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,275
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
$45,950
Kept after tax
$37,135
Worth in national money
$41,275
State rank
39
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $45,950. That is 39 of 50 states, and about 17.31% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 302 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,950 the take-home is $37,135; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,275 would nationally. The average comes to $47,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For legal secretaries and administrative assistants, Alabama sits in the lower band at $45,950, ranking 39 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 17.31%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 302 of 482 in Alabama places legal secretaries and administrative assistants 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 legal secretaries and administrative assistants in Alabama, on $45,950, is $37,135 — equivalent to $41,275 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 $47,620 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,340 |
| This salary | $45,950 |
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 | $37,135 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,101 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,037 |
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 | $43,503 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,255 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 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 legal secretaries and administrative assistants in Alabama earn under $45,950 and half over. The published range runs $29,290 at the tenth percentile to $67,340 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $37,135 take-home in Alabama comes from $45,950. 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 302 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,275 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 302.
- Figures are distribution medians for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,290 to $67,340; 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 $37,135, from $45,950, 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 302 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,275, worked from $45,950, 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 302 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 $47,620, 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 $29,290 and the top tenth $67,340 — 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 $41,275 in national terms.
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 $37,135.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $47,620. 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 ($29,290) and the ninetieth ($67,340) 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 $41,275 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 $37,135 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.