Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,854
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$11,576
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,966
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
$57,430
Kept after tax
$45,854
Worth in national money
$50,966
State rank
36
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 $57,430. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 1.78% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 210 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 $57,430 you keep $45,854 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $50,966 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $58,770, since top earners drag the number up.
- For postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, Alabama sits in the lower band at $57,430, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 1.78%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators ranks 210 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 $45,854 after the full tax stack, from $57,430. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $50,966 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $58,770 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $57,430 |
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
| Take-home in Alabama | $45,854 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,325 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,236 |
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 | $54,355 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,495 |
| 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 $57,430. The published range is $45,530 up to $75,280, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $45,854, from $57,430, 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 210 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 $50,966 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 210.
- Reported values are medians; for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,530 to $75,280. 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 $45,854 from $57,430. 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 210 of 482 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,966, worked from $57,430, 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 210 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $45,530 and the top tenth $75,280, 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 $50,966.
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, $45,854 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,530 to $75,280) 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 $50,966 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 $45,854 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.