Print Binding and Finishing Workers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,062
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$7,208
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,636
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
$39,270
Kept after tax
$32,062
Worth in national money
$35,636
State rank
38
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays print binding and finishing workers a middle wage of $39,270, 38 of 50 states and about 7.14% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 348 of 482 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,270 you keep $32,062, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,636 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $37,780, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Alabama's $39,270 median for print binding and finishing workers places it 38 of 50 states, about 7.14% 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.
- Print binding and finishing workers ranks 348 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.
- After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for print binding and finishing workers on $39,270 is $32,062. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,636 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 $37,780 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Print Binding and Finishing Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,790 |
| This salary | $39,270 |
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 | $32,062 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,733 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$922 |
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 | $37,189 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,115 |
| 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 $39,270. The published range is $26,490 up to $46,790, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $32,062 take-home in Alabama comes from $39,270. 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 348 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,636, the adjusted value of that $39,270 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 348 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for print binding and finishing workers in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $26,490 to $46,790. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $32,062, from $39,270, 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 348 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $35,636 — the adjusted value of that $39,270 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 348 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 $37,780, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,490 at the tenth percentile, $46,790 at the ninetieth.
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 $35,636.
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 $32,062.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $37,780. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,490 to $46,790) 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 $35,636 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 $32,062 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.