Pharmacy Technicians in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,879
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$7,151
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,433
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
$39,030
Kept after tax
$31,879
Worth in national money
$35,433
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for pharmacy technicians is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $39,030. That is 49 of 51 states, and about 14.69% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Pharmacy technicians ranks 353 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,030 you keep $31,879 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,433 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $41,360, since top earners drag the number up.
- For pharmacy technicians, Alabama sits in the lower band at $39,030, ranking 49 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 14.69%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 353 of 482 in Alabama places pharmacy technicians in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $31,879 after the full tax stack, from $39,030. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,433 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $41,360 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Pharmacy Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,760 |
| This salary | $39,030 |
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 | $31,879 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,541 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$918 |
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 | $36,962 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,110 |
| 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 $39,030. The published range is $31,620 up to $49,760, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $31,879, from $39,030, 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 353 of 482 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,433 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 353.
- Reported values are medians; for pharmacy technicians in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,620 to $49,760. 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 $31,879 from $39,030. 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 353 of 482 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,433, worked from $39,030, 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 353 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 $41,360, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,620 at the bottom tenth to $49,760 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $35,433.
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 $31,879.
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 $41,360. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,620 to $49,760) 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 $35,433 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 $31,879 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.