Private Detectives and Investigators in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,788
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$9,022
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,001
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
$46,810
Kept after tax
$37,788
Worth in national money
$42,001
State rank
34
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Alabama. The middle earner gets $46,810. That is 34 of 49 states, and about 8.61% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 287 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 $46,810 you keep $37,788, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,001 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $48,750, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For private detectives and investigators, Alabama sits in the lower band at $46,810, ranking 34 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 8.61%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Private detectives and investigators ranks 287 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 private detectives and investigators on $46,810 is $37,788. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,001 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 $48,750 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Private Detectives and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,420 |
| This salary | $46,810 |
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 | $37,788 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,792 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,052 |
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 | $44,316 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,273 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,810 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,990 and the ninetieth is $61,420 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $37,788, worked from $46,810. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 287 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,001, the adjusted value of that $46,810 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 287 of 482 in the state.
- The Alabama median of $46,810 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,990 to $61,420. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Alabama take-home of $37,788, on $46,810 for work ranking 287 of 482 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 287 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $42,001 — the adjusted value of that $46,810 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 287 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 $48,750 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,990 at the bottom tenth to $61,420 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $42,001 in national terms.
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 $37,788.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 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 $48,750. 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 ($35,990 to $61,420) 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 $42,001 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 $37,788 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.