Registered Nurses in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,773
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$17,307
22.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,437
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
$77,080
Kept after tax
$59,773
Worth in national money
$66,437
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for registered nurses. The middle earner takes $77,080, ranking 51 of 51 states — about 20.98% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 482 occupations Alabama reports, registered nurses comes in at 103 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $77,080 the take-home is $59,773; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,437 would nationally. The average lands at $77,020, below the middle of the range.
- Alabama ranks 51 of 51 for registered nurses, with a median of $77,080 — about 20.98% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Registered nurses ranks 103 of 482 occupations by median in Alabama, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for registered nurses in Alabama, on $77,080, is $59,773 — equivalent to $66,437 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $77,020 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,910 |
| This salary | $77,080 |
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 | $59,773 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,056 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,548 |
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 | $72,414 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,138 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,080 as a midpoint for Alabama, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,150 and the ninetieth is $98,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Alabama the take-home figure of $59,773, from $77,080, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 103 of 482 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $66,437, the adjusted value of that $77,080 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Alabama. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 103 of 482 locally.
- The Alabama median of $77,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,150 to $98,910. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Alabama is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $59,773 from $77,080. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 103 of 482 locally.
- This $66,437 adjusted figure, worked from $77,080, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 103 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 103 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $58,150 at the tenth percentile, $98,910 at the ninetieth.
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 $66,437 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 $59,773 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($58,150 to $98,910) 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 $66,437 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 $59,773 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.