Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,753
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$4,557
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,401
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
$28,310
Kept after tax
$23,753
Worth in national money
$26,401
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays this job a middle wage of $28,310, 51 of 51 states and about 25.77% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against 482 occupations Alabama publishes, this job lands at 455. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $28,310 you keep $23,753, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $26,401 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $31,160, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alabama's $28,310 median for preschool teachers, except special education places it 51 of 51 states, about 25.77% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Within Alabama, this work ranks 455 of 482 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for preschool teachers, except special education on $28,310 is $23,753. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $26,401 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $31,160 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,350 |
| This salary | $28,310 |
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 | $23,753 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,923 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$753 |
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 | $26,888 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$906 |
| 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 $28,310. The published range is $21,150 up to $47,350, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $23,753 take-home in Alabama comes from $28,310. 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 455 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,401, the adjusted value of that $28,310 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 455 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for preschool teachers, except special education in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $21,150 to $47,350. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $23,753, from $28,310, 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 455 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 51 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $26,401 — the adjusted value of that $28,310 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 455 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $31,160, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $21,150 and the top tenth $47,350 — 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 $26,401 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Alabama adds its own income tax on top — which is why $23,753 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $31,160. 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 ($21,150) and the ninetieth ($47,350) 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 $26,401 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 $23,753 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.