Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,338
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$13,312
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,061
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
$64,650
Kept after tax
$51,338
Worth in national money
$57,061
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Alabama is 23 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $64,650. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 148 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 $64,650 the take-home is $51,338; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $57,061 would nationally. The average lands at $63,100, below the middle of the range.
- Alabama ranks 23 of 51 for librarians and media collections specialists at $64,650. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Librarians and media collections specialists ranks 148 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 librarians and media collections specialists in Alabama, on $64,650, is $51,338 — equivalent to $57,061 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 $63,100 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,310 |
| This salary | $64,650 |
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 | $51,338 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,126 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,361 |
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 | $61,179 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,646 |
| 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 librarians and media collections specialists in Alabama earn under $64,650 and half over. The published range runs $37,890 at the tenth percentile to $78,310 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $51,338, worked from $64,650. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 148 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $57,061, the adjusted value of that $64,650 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 148 of 482 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for librarians and media collections specialists in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,890 to $78,310; 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.
- The Alabama take-home of $51,338, on $64,650 for work ranking 148 of 482 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 148 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $57,061 — the adjusted value of that $64,650 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 148 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,890 and the top tenth $78,310, so most people doing this work in Alabama sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $57,061 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Alabama's own levy, $51,338 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,890 to $78,310) 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 $57,061 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 $51,338 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.