Public Safety Telecommunicators in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,826
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$7,134
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,374
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
$38,960
Kept after tax
$31,826
Worth in national money
$35,374
State rank
48
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 $38,960, 48 of 51 states and about 26.55% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 355 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 $38,960 you keep $31,826, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,374 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $41,260, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alabama's $38,960 median for public safety telecommunicators places it 48 of 51 states, about 26.55% 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.
- Public safety telecommunicators ranks 355 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 public safety telecommunicators on $38,960 is $31,826. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,374 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 $41,260 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,420 |
| This salary | $38,960 |
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 | $31,826 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,484 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$916 |
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 | $36,896 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,108 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of public safety telecommunicators in Alabama earn under $38,960 and half over. The published range runs $29,850 at the tenth percentile to $56,420 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $31,826, worked from $38,960. 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 355 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,374, the adjusted value of that $38,960 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 355 of 482 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for public safety telecommunicators in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,850 to $56,420; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Alabama take-home of $31,826, on $38,960 for work ranking 355 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 355 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $35,374 — the adjusted value of that $38,960 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 355 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 $41,260, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $29,850 at the bottom tenth to $56,420 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Alabama sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $35,374 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $31,826 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.
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 $41,260. 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 ($29,850 to $56,420) 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 $35,374 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 $31,826 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.