Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,853
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$5,227
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,735
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
$31,080
Kept after tax
$25,853
Worth in national money
$28,735
State rank
49
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 $31,080. That is 49 of 50 states, and about 18.85% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 482 occupations Alabama publishes, this job lands at 436. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $31,080 you keep $25,853, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,735 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $31,840, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers, Alabama sits in the lower band at $31,080, ranking 49 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 18.85%. 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 436 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.
- After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers on $31,080 is $25,853. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,735 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 $31,840 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $39,330 |
| This salary | $31,080 |
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 | $25,853 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,153 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$792 |
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 | $29,462 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$958 |
| 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 $31,080. The published range is $22,130 up to $39,330, 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 $25,853, worked from $31,080. 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 436 of 482.
- Two cautions on $28,735, the adjusted value of that $31,080 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Alabama. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 436 of 482 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,130 to $39,330. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alabama take-home of $25,853, on $31,080 for work ranking 436 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 436 of 482 in the state.
- This $28,735 adjusted figure, worked from $31,080, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 436 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 436 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $22,130 and the top tenth $39,330, so most people doing this work in Alabama sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $28,735.
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, $25,853 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($22,130 to $39,330) 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 $28,735 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 $25,853 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.