Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,603
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$8,647
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,684
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
$45,250
Kept after tax
$36,603
Worth in national money
$40,684
State rank
44
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $45,250, ranking 44 of 49 states — about 21.37% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 307 of 482 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $45,250 you keep $36,603 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $40,684 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,040, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alabama ranks 44 of 49 for motorboat mechanics and service technicians, with a median of $45,250 — about 21.37% 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.
- Motorboat mechanics and service technicians ranks 307 of 482 occupations in Alabama by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $36,603 after the full tax stack, from $45,250. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $40,684 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,040 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,420 |
| This salary | $45,250 |
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 | $36,603 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,538 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,025 |
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 | $42,842 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,240 |
| 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 $45,250. The published range is $29,700 up to $69,420, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,603 take-home in Alabama comes from $45,250. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 307 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,684 uses one figure for the whole of Alabama. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 307.
- Reported values are medians; for motorboat mechanics and service technicians in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,700 to $69,420. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,603, from $45,250, assumes a single Alabama filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 307 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,684, worked from $45,250, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Alabama address, on work sitting at 307 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $48,040 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $29,700, the highest tenth $69,420, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $40,684.
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 $36,603.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $48,040. 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 ($29,700) and the ninetieth ($69,420) 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 $40,684 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 $36,603 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.