Security Guards in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,851
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$5,869
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,956
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
$33,720
Kept after tax
$27,851
Worth in national money
$30,956
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays security guards a middle wage of $33,720, 48 of 51 states and about 11.31% 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, security guards ranks 427. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $33,720 the take-home is $27,851; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $30,956 would nationally. The average comes to $34,680, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama's $33,720 median for security guards places it 48 of 51 states, about 11.31% 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, security guards ranks 427 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.
- Post-tax income for security guards in Alabama, on $33,720, is $27,851 — equivalent to $30,956 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 $34,680 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,640 |
| This salary | $33,720 |
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 | $27,851 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,274 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$831 |
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 | $31,949 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,005 |
| 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 $33,720. The published range is $23,110 up to $45,640, 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 $27,851, worked from $33,720. 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 427 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,956, the adjusted value of that $33,720 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 427 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for security guards in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,110 to $45,640. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alabama take-home of $27,851, on $33,720 for work ranking 427 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 427 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $30,956 — the adjusted value of that $33,720 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 427 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $23,110 at the tenth percentile, $45,640 at the ninetieth.
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 $30,956 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, $27,851 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($23,110 to $45,640) 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 $30,956 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 $27,851 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.