Recreational Therapists in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,801
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$11,559
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,907
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
$57,360
Kept after tax
$45,801
Worth in national money
$50,907
State rank
29
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Alabama is 29 of 48 states for recreational therapists, with a middle wage of $57,360. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Recreational therapists ranks 211 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Here is where Alabama does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $57,360 you keep $45,801, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $50,907 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $60,460, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alabama ranks 29 of 48 for recreational therapists at $57,360. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 211 of 482 in Alabama places recreational therapists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Alabama income tax, retained pay for recreational therapists on $57,360 is $45,801. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $50,907 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 $60,460 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Recreational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,110 |
| This salary | $57,360 |
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 | $45,801 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,269 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,235 |
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 | $54,289 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,493 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,360 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $43,840 and the ninetieth is $87,110 — 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 $45,801, worked from $57,360. 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 211 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,907, the adjusted value of that $57,360 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 211 of 482 in the state.
- The Alabama median of $57,360 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $43,840 to $87,110. 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 $45,801, on $57,360 for work ranking 211 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 211 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $50,907 — the adjusted value of that $57,360 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 211 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 $60,460 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $43,840 and the top tenth $87,110 — 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 $50,907 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 $45,801 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 $60,460. 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 ($43,840) and the ninetieth ($87,110) 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 $50,907 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 $45,801 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.