Physical Therapist Assistants in Alabama

A stethoscope and folded scrubs in a sunlit clinical workspace.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$48,892

after federal, FICA and Alabama tax

Tax takes

$12,538

20.4% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$54,343

Alabama costs less than average

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

$61,430

Kept after tax

$48,892

Worth in national money

$54,343

State rank

45

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Alabama is among the lower-paying states for physical therapist assistants. The middle earner takes $61,430, ranking 45 of 51 states — about 10.16% 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 177.
  • Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $61,430 the take-home is $48,892; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,343 would nationally. The average comes to $63,130, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Alabama ranks 45 of 51 for physical therapist assistants, with a median of $61,430 — about 10.16% 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, physical therapist assistants sits at 177 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 physical therapist assistants in Alabama, on $61,430, is $48,892 — equivalent to $54,343 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 $63,130 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Physical Therapist Assistants

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$49,340
Half earn under$61,430
Top tenth earn over$79,060
This salary$61,430

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

Compare with
+$2,647take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Alabama$48,892
Take-home in Texas$51,539
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$1,305

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

Moving to
$0$63,009
$63,009in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$58,136
Raise you would need+$1,579
Prices in Texas97 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 $61,430. The published range is $49,340 up to $79,060, 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 $48,892, worked from $61,430. 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 177 of 482.
  • Two cautions on $54,343, the adjusted value of that $61,430 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 177 of 482 locally.
  • Reported values are medians; for physical therapist assistants in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,340 to $79,060. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • The Alabama take-home of $48,892, on $61,430 for work ranking 177 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 177 of 482 in the state.
  • This $54,343 adjusted figure, worked from $61,430, 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 177 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 177 of 482 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $49,340 and the top tenth $79,060, so most people doing this work in Alabama sit within a fairly tight band.

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 $54,343 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 $48,892.

Can I compare this job across every state?

All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($49,340 to $79,060) 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 $54,343 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 $48,892 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.