Physics Teachers, Postsecondary in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,541
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$19,209
23.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,625
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
$82,750
Kept after tax
$63,541
Worth in national money
$70,625
State rank
40
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for physics teachers, postsecondary. The middle earner takes $82,750, ranking 40 of 47 states — about 17.51% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Alabama this is well-paid work. Of 482 occupations with published figures in the state, physics teachers, postsecondary ranks 83 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $82,750 the take-home is $63,541; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $70,625 would nationally. The average comes to $87,430, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama ranks 40 of 47 for physics teachers, postsecondary, with a median of $82,750 — about 17.51% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Alabama publishes a median for, physics teachers, postsecondary sits 83 of 482 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for physics teachers, postsecondary in Alabama, on $82,750, is $63,541 — equivalent to $70,625 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 $87,430 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physics Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $121,120 |
| This salary | $82,750 |
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 | $63,541 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,045 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,631 |
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 | $77,770 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,253 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $82,750 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,510 and the ninetieth is $121,120 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $63,541, from $82,750, 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 83 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 $70,625 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 83.
- The Alabama median of $82,750 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,510 to $121,120. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Alabama is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $63,541 from $82,750. 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 83 of 482 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $70,625, worked from $82,750, 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 83 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 $87,430, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $58,510 and the top tenth $121,120 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $70,625 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Alabama's own levy, $63,541 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 $87,430. 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 ($58,510) and the ninetieth ($121,120) 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 $70,625 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 $63,541 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.