Special Education Teachers, Middle School in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,971
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$12,879
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,541
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
$62,850
Kept after tax
$49,971
Worth in national money
$55,541
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Alabama pays this job around $62,850 at the midpoint, 32 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Alabama, this sits in the middle: 163 of 482 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $62,850 you keep $49,971 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $55,541 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $60,220.
- For special education teachers, middle school the Alabama median is $62,850, ranking 32 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Special education teachers, middle school ranks 163 of 482 occupations in Alabama by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Alabama is $49,971 after the full tax stack, from $62,850. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,541 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,220 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Middle School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,730 |
| This salary | $62,850 |
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 | $49,971 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,680 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,330 |
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 | $59,478 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,608 |
| 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 $62,850. The published range is $34,360 up to $76,730, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $49,971 take-home in Alabama comes from $62,850. 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 163 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,541 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 163.
- Reported values are medians; for special education teachers, middle school in Alabama the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,360 to $76,730. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $49,971, from $62,850, 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 163 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,541, worked from $62,850, 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 163 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 $60,220, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $34,360 and the top tenth $76,730, so most people doing this work in Alabama sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $55,541 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Alabama then takes its own share, leaving $49,971.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $60,220. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,360 to $76,730) 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 $55,541 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 $49,971 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.