Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,507
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$16,163
21.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,918
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
$73,670
Kept after tax
$57,507
Worth in national money
$63,918
State rank
40
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $73,670, ranking 40 of 46 states — about 12.6% 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, this job comes in at 118 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $73,670 you keep $57,507 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $63,918 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $79,890, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alabama ranks 40 of 46 for sociology teachers, postsecondary, with a median of $73,670 — about 12.6% 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.
- Sociology teachers, postsecondary ranks 118 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.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $57,507 after the full tax stack, from $73,670. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $63,918 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $79,890 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,780 |
| This salary | $73,670 |
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 | $57,507 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,657 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,498 |
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 | $69,193 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,069 |
| 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 $73,670. The published range is $48,480 up to $104,780, 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 $57,507, worked from $73,670. 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 118 of 482.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alabama, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $63,918, the adjusted value of that $73,670 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 118 of 482 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,480 to $104,780. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alabama take-home of $57,507, on $73,670 for work ranking 118 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 118 of 482 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alabama, so $63,918 — the adjusted value of that $73,670 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 118 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $79,890, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $48,480 at the bottom tenth to $104,780 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 $63,918.
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, $57,507 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $79,890. 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 ($48,480) and the ninetieth ($104,780) 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 $63,918 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 $57,507 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.