Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers in Alabama
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,816
after federal, FICA and Alabama tax
Tax takes
$12,514
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,258
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
$61,330
Kept after tax
$48,816
Worth in national money
$54,258
State rank
17
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alabama sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $61,330, ranking 17 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 181 among 482 occupations Alabama publishes pay for.
- Alabama is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $61,330 the take-home is $48,816; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,258 would nationally. The average comes to $63,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alabama occupies the middle band for title examiners, abstractors, and searchers: a median of $61,330, ranking 17 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 181 of 482 in Alabama places title examiners, abstractors, and searchers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for title examiners, abstractors, and searchers in Alabama, on $61,330, is $48,816 — equivalent to $54,258 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 $63,910 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,440 |
| This salary | $61,330 |
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 | $48,816 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,459 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,304 |
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 | $58,041 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,577 |
| 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 title examiners, abstractors, and searchers in Alabama earn under $61,330 and half over. The published range runs $45,360 at the tenth percentile to $87,440 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,816 take-home in Alabama comes from $61,330. 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 181 of 482.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,258 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 181.
- Figures are distribution medians for title examiners, abstractors, and searchers in Alabama, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,360 to $87,440; 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 $48,816, from $61,330, 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 181 of 482 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,258, worked from $61,330, 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 181 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 $63,910 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $45,360 and the top tenth $87,440, so most people doing this work in Alabama sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $54,258 in national terms.
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 $48,816.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $63,910. 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 ($45,360 to $87,440) 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 $54,258 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 $48,816 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.