Recreation Workers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,792
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$4,568
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,444
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
$28,360
Kept after tax
$23,792
Worth in national money
$26,444
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays recreation workers a middle wage of $28,360, 49 of 51 states and about 22.43% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Alabama this is lower-paid work. Of 482 occupations the state publishes figures for, recreation workers ranks 453. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $28,360 you keep $23,792, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $26,444 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $30,350, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alabama's $28,360 median for recreation workers places it 49 of 51 states, about 22.43% 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.
- Against every occupation Alabama reports, recreation workers ranks 453 of 482, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for recreation workers on $28,360 is $23,792. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $26,444 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 $30,350 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $19,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,110 |
| This salary | $28,360 |
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 | $23,792 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,964 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$754 |
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 | $26,936 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$908 |
| 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 $28,360. The published range is $19,150 up to $45,110, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alabama's $23,792, worked from $28,360. 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 453 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,444, the adjusted value of that $28,360 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 453 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for recreation workers in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $19,150 to $45,110. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alabama take-home of $23,792, on $28,360 for work ranking 453 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 453 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $26,444 — the adjusted value of that $28,360 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 453 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 $30,350 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $19,150 at the bottom tenth to $45,110 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $26,444 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $23,792 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 $30,350. 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 ($19,150) and the ninetieth ($45,110) 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 $26,444 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 $23,792 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.