Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,722
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$6,468
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,036
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
$36,190
Kept after tax
$29,722
Worth in national money
$33,036
State rank
42
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 $36,190. That is 42 of 50 states, and about 7.87% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 482 occupations Alabama publishes, this job lands at 404. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,190 the take-home is $29,722; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,036 would nationally. The average comes to $36,500, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service, Alabama sits in the lower band at $36,190, ranking 42 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 7.87%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Alabama, this work ranks 404 of 482 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in Alabama, on $36,190, is $29,722 — equivalent to $33,036 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 $36,500 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,380 |
| This salary | $36,190 |
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 | $29,722 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,259 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$868 |
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 | $34,278 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,050 |
| 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 $36,190. The published range is $24,470 up to $47,380, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $29,722, from $36,190, 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 404 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 $33,036, the adjusted value of that $36,190 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 404 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $24,470 to $47,380. 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 $29,722 from $36,190. 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 404 of 482 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $33,036 — the adjusted value of that $36,190 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 404 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $24,470 at the bottom tenth to $47,380 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $33,036 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, $29,722 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($24,470 to $47,380) 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 $33,036 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 $29,722 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.