Materials Engineers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$80,040
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$27,540
25.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$88,963
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
$107,580
Kept after tax
$80,040
Worth in national money
$88,963
State rank
19
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama sits in the middle of the pack for materials engineers. The median is $107,580, ranking 19 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Alabama this is well-paid work. Of 482 occupations with published figures in the state, materials engineers ranks 32 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $107,580 the take-home is $80,040; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $88,963 would nationally. The average comes to $114,610, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama occupies the middle band for materials engineers: a median of $107,580, ranking 19 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation Alabama publishes a median for, materials engineers sits 32 of 482 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for materials engineers in Alabama, on $107,580, is $80,040 — equivalent to $88,963 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 $114,610 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Materials Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $107,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $168,580 |
| This salary | $107,580 |
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 | $80,040 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,513 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,994 |
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 | $101,223 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,754 |
| 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 $107,580. The published range is $69,260 up to $168,580, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $80,040, worked from $107,580. 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 32 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $88,963, the adjusted value of that $107,580 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 32 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for materials engineers in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $69,260 to $168,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alabama take-home of $80,040, on $107,580 for work ranking 32 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 32 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $88,963 — the adjusted value of that $107,580 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 32 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $114,610, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $69,260 at the bottom tenth to $168,580 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $88,963 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Alabama adds its own income tax on top — which is why $80,040 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $114,610. 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 ($69,260) and the ninetieth ($168,580) 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 $88,963 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 $80,040 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.