Occupational Health and Safety Specialists in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,215
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$19,045
23.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,263
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
$82,260
Kept after tax
$63,215
Worth in national money
$70,263
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $82,260, ranking 45 of 51 states — about 8.75% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 482 occupations Alabama reports, this job comes in at 85 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $82,260 you keep $63,215 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $70,263 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $86,060, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alabama ranks 45 of 51 for occupational health and safety specialists, with a median of $82,260 — about 8.75% 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.
- Occupational health and safety specialists ranks 85 of 482 occupations by median in Alabama, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $63,215 after the full tax stack, from $82,260. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $70,263 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $86,060 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,780 |
| This salary | $82,260 |
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 | $63,215 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,700 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,624 |
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 | $77,307 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,243 |
| 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 $82,260. The published range is $51,480 up to $125,780, 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 $63,215, worked from $82,260. 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 85 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $70,263, the adjusted value of that $82,260 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 85 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for occupational health and safety specialists in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $51,480 to $125,780. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alabama take-home of $63,215, on $82,260 for work ranking 85 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 85 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $70,263 — the adjusted value of that $82,260 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 85 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 $86,060, 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 $51,480 at the bottom tenth to $125,780 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Alabama sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $70,263 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $63,215.
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 $86,060. 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 ($51,480) and the ninetieth ($125,780) 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 $70,263 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 $63,215 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.