Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,426
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$12,074
20.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,713
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
$59,500
Kept after tax
$47,426
Worth in national money
$52,713
State rank
25
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $59,500, ranking 25 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 482 occupations Alabama reports figures for, this is number 201.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $59,500 you keep $47,426, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $52,713 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $61,640, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alabama occupies the middle band for life, physical, and social science technicians, all other: a median of $59,500, ranking 25 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Alabama's occupational distribution, life, physical, and social science technicians, all other sits at 201 of 482 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for life, physical, and social science technicians, all other on $59,500 is $47,426. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $52,713 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $61,640 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,110 |
| This salary | $59,500 |
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 | $47,426 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,988 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,272 |
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 | $56,311 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,538 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $59,500 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,260 and the ninetieth is $80,110 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $47,426, worked from $59,500. 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 201 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,713, the adjusted value of that $59,500 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 201 of 482 in the state.
- The Alabama median of $59,500 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,260 to $80,110. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Alabama take-home of $47,426, on $59,500 for work ranking 201 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 201 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $52,713 — the adjusted value of that $59,500 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 201 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 $61,640 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $40,260 and the top tenth $80,110, 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 $52,713 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $47,426 remains.
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 $61,640. 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 ($40,260 to $80,110) 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 $52,713 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 $47,426 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.