Software Developers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,967
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$32,573
26.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$99,997
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
$122,540
Kept after tax
$89,967
Worth in national money
$99,997
State rank
34
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Alabama pays software developers a middle wage of $122,540, 34 of 50 states and about 9.88% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Alabama this is well-paid work. Of 482 occupations with published figures in the state, software developers ranks 20 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $122,540 the take-home is $89,967; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $99,997 would nationally. The average comes to $122,840, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama's $122,540 median for software developers places it 34 of 50 states, about 9.88% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Alabama publishes a median for, software developers sits 20 of 482 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for software developers in Alabama, on $122,540, is $89,967 — equivalent to $99,997 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 $122,840 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Software Developers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $71,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $122,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $175,330 |
| This salary | $122,540 |
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 | $89,967 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $95,022 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,212 |
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 | $115,334 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,146 |
| 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 software developers in Alabama earn under $122,540 and half over. The published range runs $71,590 at the tenth percentile to $175,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $89,967 take-home in Alabama comes from $122,540. 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 20 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $99,997 uses one figure for the whole of Alabama. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 482 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 20.
- Figures are distribution medians for software developers in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $71,590 to $175,330; 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 $89,967, from $122,540, 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 20 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $99,997, worked from $122,540, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Alabama address, on work sitting at 20 of 482 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $71,590 and the top tenth $175,330 — 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 $99,997 in national terms.
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, $89,967 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 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($71,590) and the ninetieth ($175,330) 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 $99,997 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 $89,967 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.