Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,176
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$10,094
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,766
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
$51,270
Kept after tax
$41,176
Worth in national money
$45,766
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $51,270. That is 48 of 51 states, and about 32.73% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 482 occupations Alabama reports figures for, this is number 241.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $51,270 the take-home is $41,176; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $45,766 would nationally. The average comes to $55,130, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For police and sheriff's patrol officers, Alabama sits in the lower band at $51,270, ranking 48 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 32.73%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Alabama's occupational distribution, police and sheriff's patrol officers sits at 241 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 police and sheriff's patrol officers in Alabama, on $51,270, is $41,176 — equivalent to $45,766 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 $55,130 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,220 |
| This salary | $51,270 |
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 | $41,176 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,375 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,129 |
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 | $48,532 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,366 |
| 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 $51,270. The published range is $37,480 up to $77,220, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $41,176 take-home in Alabama comes from $51,270. 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 241 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $45,766, the adjusted value of that $51,270 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 241 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for police and sheriff's patrol officers in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $37,480 to $77,220. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $41,176, from $51,270, 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 241 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $45,766 — the adjusted value of that $51,270 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 241 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 $55,130 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,480 at the bottom tenth to $77,220 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $45,766.
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 $41,176.
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 $55,130. 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 ($37,480) and the ninetieth ($77,220) 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 $45,766 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 $41,176 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.