Postal Service Clerks in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,052
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$12,588
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,520
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
$61,640
Kept after tax
$49,052
Worth in national money
$54,520
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama sits in the middle of the pack for postal service clerks. The median is $61,640, ranking 27 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 176 of 482 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,640 you keep $49,052 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,520 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $60,900.
- Alabama occupies the middle band for postal service clerks: a median of $61,640, ranking 27 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Postal service clerks ranks 176 of 482 occupations in Alabama by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $49,052 after the full tax stack, from $61,640. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,520 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,900 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,030 |
| This salary | $61,640 |
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 | $49,052 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,708 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,309 |
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 | $58,334 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,583 |
| 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 $61,640. The published range is $42,600 up to $75,030, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $49,052 take-home in Alabama comes from $61,640. 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 176 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,520, the adjusted value of that $61,640 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 176 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for postal service clerks in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,600 to $75,030. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $49,052, from $61,640, 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 176 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $54,520 — the adjusted value of that $61,640 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 176 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $42,600 and the top tenth $75,030, so most people doing this work in Alabama sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $54,520.
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 $49,052.
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 ($42,600 to $75,030) 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 $54,520 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 $49,052 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.