Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,755
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$7,745
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,518
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
$41,500
Kept after tax
$33,755
Worth in national money
$37,518
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $41,500. That is 50 of 51 states, and about 31.15% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 482 occupations Alabama reports figures for, this is number 337.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $41,500 you keep $33,755 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $37,518 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $45,480, since top earners drag the number up.
- For mental health and substance abuse social workers, Alabama sits in the lower band at $41,500, ranking 50 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 31.15%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Alabama's occupational distribution, mental health and substance abuse social workers sits at 337 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.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $33,755 after the full tax stack, from $41,500. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,518 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $45,480 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,750 |
| This salary | $41,500 |
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 | $33,755 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,525 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$960 |
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 | $39,297 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,161 |
| 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 $41,500. The published range is $29,370 up to $64,750, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $33,755, from $41,500, 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 337 of 482 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,518, the adjusted value of that $41,500 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 337 of 482 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,370 to $64,750. 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 $33,755 from $41,500. 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 337 of 482 locally.
- This $37,518 adjusted figure, worked from $41,500, 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 337 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 337 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 $45,480, 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 $29,370 at the bottom tenth to $64,750 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 $37,518 in national terms.
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 $33,755.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $45,480. 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 ($29,370) and the ninetieth ($64,750) 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 $37,518 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 $33,755 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.