Social and Human Service Assistants in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,449
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$6,381
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,732
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
$35,830
Kept after tax
$29,449
Worth in national money
$32,732
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $35,830, ranking 49 of 51 states — about 21.99% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Alabama, this one sits low: 409 of 482 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $35,830 the take-home is $29,449; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $32,732 would nationally. The average comes to $37,240, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama ranks 49 of 51 for social and human service assistants, with a median of $35,830 — about 21.99% 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.
- Social and human service assistants occupies position 409 of 482 in Alabama's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for social and human service assistants in Alabama, on $35,830, is $29,449 — equivalent to $32,732 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 $37,240 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social and Human Service Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,100 |
| This salary | $35,830 |
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 | $29,449 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,969 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$862 |
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 | $33,938 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,043 |
| 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 social and human service assistants in Alabama earn under $35,830 and half over. The published range runs $24,170 at the tenth percentile to $52,100 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,449 take-home in Alabama comes from $35,830. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 409 of 482.
- Two cautions on $32,732, the adjusted value of that $35,830 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 409 of 482 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for social and human service assistants in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,170 to $52,100; 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.
- Retained pay of $29,449, from $35,830, assumes a single Alabama filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 409 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 49 of 51 for it.
- This $32,732 adjusted figure, worked from $35,830, 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 409 of 482 in the state. The occupation ranks 409 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 $37,240 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 $24,170 at the bottom tenth to $52,100 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $32,732.
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 $29,449 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 $37,240. 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 ($24,170) and the ninetieth ($52,100) 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 $32,732 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 $29,449 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.