Mechanical Drafters in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,945
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$10,655
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,733
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
$53,600
Kept after tax
$42,945
Worth in national money
$47,733
State rank
46
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for mechanical drafters. The middle earner takes $53,600, ranking 46 of 47 states — about 25.09% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 482 occupations Alabama reports figures for, this is number 225.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $53,600 the take-home is $42,945; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $47,733 would nationally. The average comes to $61,230, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama ranks 46 of 47 for mechanical drafters, with a median of $53,600 — about 25.09% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Alabama's occupational distribution, mechanical drafters sits at 225 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.
- Post-tax income for mechanical drafters in Alabama, on $53,600, is $42,945 — equivalent to $47,733 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 $61,230 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,600 |
| This salary | $53,600 |
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 | $42,945 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,248 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,170 |
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 | $50,735 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,415 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $53,600 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,630 and the ninetieth is $89,600 — 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 $42,945, worked from $53,600. 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 225 of 482.
- Two cautions on $47,733, the adjusted value of that $53,600 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 225 of 482 locally.
- The Alabama median of $53,600 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,630 to $89,600. 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 $42,945, on $53,600 for work ranking 225 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 225 of 482 in the state.
- This $47,733 adjusted figure, worked from $53,600, 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 225 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 225 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 $61,230, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $39,630 at the bottom tenth to $89,600 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 $47,733 in national terms.
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, $42,945 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 $61,230. 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 ($39,630) and the ninetieth ($89,600) 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 $47,733 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 $42,945 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.