Manicurists and Pedicurists in Alabama

A barber’s hands finishing a cut at the nape, with cut hair on the floor below.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$25,263

after federal, FICA and Alabama tax

Tax takes

$5,037

16.6% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$28,079

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

$30,300

Kept after tax

$25,263

Worth in national money

$28,079

State rank

43

of 49 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays manicurists and pedicurists a middle wage of $30,300, 43 of 49 states and about 15.27% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
  • Within Alabama this is lower-paid work. Of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, manicurists and pedicurists ranks 442. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
  • Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $30,300 you keep $25,263, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,079 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $35,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Alabama's $30,300 median for manicurists and pedicurists places it 43 of 49 states, about 15.27% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
  • Against every occupation Alabama reports, manicurists and pedicurists ranks 442 of 482, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
  • After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for manicurists and pedicurists on $30,300 is $25,263. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,079 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 $35,700 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

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Pay band: Manicurists and Pedicurists

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$21,160
Half earn under$30,300
Top tenth earn over$57,370
This salary$30,300

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
+$1,263take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Alabama$25,263
Take-home in Texas$26,526
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$782

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$31,245
$31,245in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$28,728
Raise you would need+$945
Prices in Texas97 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 $30,300. The published range is $21,160 up to $57,370, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • In Alabama the take-home figure of $25,263, from $30,300, 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 442 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 $28,079, the adjusted value of that $30,300 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 442 of 482 in the state.
  • Reported values are medians; for manicurists and pedicurists in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $21,160 to $57,370. 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 $25,263 from $30,300. 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 442 of 482 locally.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $28,079 — the adjusted value of that $30,300 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 442 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 $35,700, 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 $21,160 and the top tenth $57,370 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.

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 $28,079.

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 $25,263.

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 49 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 $35,700. 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 ($21,160) and the ninetieth ($57,370) 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 $28,079 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 $25,263 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.