Alabama Paycheck Calculator 2026

How this calculator works

Alabama does not tax your paycheck at a single rate, and it does not start from the federal standard deduction. The Department of Revenue’s withholding formula tells your employer to turn your pay into a yearly figure, then subtract four things: a standard deduction that gets smaller as your pay rises ($3,000 for a single filer, $2,500 at $75,000), the federal income tax withheld from your pay, a personal exemption ($1,500 if you claim S, $3,000 for M or H), and a set amount for each dependent. Three rates are applied to what is left, and the employer divides the yearly amount by the number of pay periods.

The calculator applies these deductions in this order:

• Federal income tax. Your gross pay minus the federal standard deduction for your filing status, run through the 2026 federal brackets.
• Social Security at 6.2% of gross wages, up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500.
• Medicare at 1.45% of all wages, with no cap, plus the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000.
• Alabama income tax: your wages after any 401(k) contribution, minus the Alabama standard deduction, the federal tax above and the exemption for your status, taxed at 2%, 4% and 5%.

This calculator has no other Alabama line. We looked for a state payroll deduction on your check and found none.

Rates come from the agencies that set them: the IRS for the federal brackets, the standard deduction and FICA, cross-checked against the Social Security Administration for the wage base; and, for Alabama, the Department of Revenue’s January 2026 withholding tax tables and instructions, its Form A-4 and its page on the overtime premium deduction, and the Department of Workforce’s employer pages. Our full sourcing is on the methodology page.

How we checked the formula against the printed tables. The booklet prints withholding tables for weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, quarterly and annual pay, with columns for each exemption letter and for up to seven dependents. The tables do not print the federal tax they subtract, so we worked out which yearly federal amount reproduces each row. Using the formula as the booklet writes it, for each of the three filing statuses this calculator offers, one federal amount reproduced every cell of every row to within a dollar, across all 3,600 pay ranges. The tables are figured at the top of each pay range, not the middle. The federal withholding the tables assume is not the same as this calculator’s: it differs by as much as $516 a year in the single-filer rows we compared, so this calculator can differ from the printed annual table by up to about $26 of Alabama tax. The booklet says the formula should be used by employers who compute withholding with a computer program, which is what this page does.

Withholding is an estimate, not your final bill. The figure here is what an employer takes from each check using the Department of Revenue’s method. Your actual Alabama income tax is figured on your return, so what you owe or get back when you file can differ.

What the calculator deliberately leaves out: dependents, the “0” and “MS” letters on Form A-4, extra withholding, the 5% rate employers may use on bonuses, severance pay, the 30-day rule for out-of-state workers, the overtime premium deduction on your Alabama return, local occupational taxes, and health insurance premiums and other employer benefit deductions.

Alabama’s three rates and the base they apply to

These are the rates in the Department of Revenue’s withholding formula. They apply to the amount left after the four deductions described earlier, not to your pay. For a single filer on $75,000, that amount is $75,000 − $2,500 − $7,670.00 of federal tax − $1,500 = $63,330. Only the first $3,000 of it is taxed below 5%, so for most workers 5% is the rate on every extra dollar.

How the Alabama standard deduction shrinks

The deduction is not one amount. It is highest at low pay and falls by one step for every $500 of yearly pay, between $26,000 and $35,500, then stays flat from $35,500 up (a single filer loses $25 a step, from $3,000 down to $2,500). These are the 2026 amounts from the Department of Revenue’s schedule for the three statuses this calculator offers.

What each dependent is worth

The formula subtracts a fixed amount for each dependent other than a spouse, and the amount falls as pay rises. This calculator does not include dependents, but these are the amounts the Department of Revenue prints.

Alabama hourly paycheck: what your rate is worth after tax

Why we ask for your hours instead of assuming 2,080

Many hourly calculators multiply your rate by 2,080 and call it a year. That is 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, which describes a full-time schedule, not every hourly job. If you work 32 hours a week, or 45 with overtime, the assumed figure is wrong before any tax is applied. The calculator above asks for your hours and uses them. Because Alabama’s standard deduction changes with yearly pay, your hours matter twice here: they set your yearly pay and, through it, your deduction.

What is $20 an hour after taxes in Alabama?

At 40 hours a week, $20 an hour is $41,600 a year gross. After federal tax, Social Security, Medicare and Alabama income tax withholding, that leaves about $33,906 a year, or $2,825.52 a month. Your real hourly rate — what an hour of work actually puts in your bank account — is $16.30. Alabama’s share is $1,699.40 of income tax withholding for the year.

What are $25 and $30 an hour after taxes in Alabama?

$25 an hour is $52,000 gross and about $41,805 after tax, a real rate of $20.10. $30 an hour is $62,400 gross and about $49,704 after tax, a real rate of $23.90. Alabama income tax withholding is $2,157.00 a year at $25 an hour, and $2,614.60 at $30.

Overtime and bonuses

The calculator multiplies your rate by the hours you enter and adds no overtime premium, and it does not model bonuses. The Department of Revenue says employers may withhold state income tax from bonuses and supplemental wages at a rate of 5%. Separately, for 2026 through 2028 Alabama lets you deduct up to $1,000 of the premium part of your overtime pay on your Alabama return. The page we read describes it as a deduction on the return, and says nothing about withholding, so this calculator does not apply it. If you work variable hours, enter the average number of hours you expect to work each week.

Alabama take-home pay by hourly rate

Single filer, 40 hours a week (2,080 hours a year), 2026 rates.

What this calculator does not cover

This tool models federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and the payroll programs your state actually runs — nothing more. It deliberately leaves out:

• Itemized deductions and federal tax credits — the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, education credits. The engine always applies the standard deduction; there is no itemizing path.
• A second job, self-employment income or 1099 pay. Every dollar you enter is treated as one employer’s W-2 wages, taxed at the employee share of Social Security and Medicare — not the self-employment tax a 1099 worker actually owes.
• Pre-tax benefits other than the 401(k) field — health insurance premiums, an HSA or FSA, commuter benefits. The only amount taken out before tax is the percentage you enter for a 401(k).
• Local occupational taxes — the Alabama Department of Revenue says local occupational taxes are not administered by the state, and that for details you must contact the city or county that levies one. The City of Birmingham, for example, lists an occupational tax on its Tax and License Division page. This calculator adds no local line for Alabama. The only local income tax lines on this site are on the Indiana and Maryland calculators.
• Overtime premiums. An hourly rate is multiplied by the hours you enter; it does not add a time-and-a-half rate for hours worked past 40 in a week.
• Wage garnishments or court-ordered deductions — child support, a wage levy. Your result assumes none exist.
• The Additional Medicare Tax, at the single-filer threshold. The 0.9% surtax above $200,000 is applied at that one figure for every filing status, the way an employer actually withholds it — not the higher threshold a married couple filing jointly may end up owing at tax return time.
• Married filing separately, or a qualifying surviving spouse. The calculator only offers single, married filing jointly, and head of household.

None of these are in the estimate. Some of them change what you owe or get back when you file, and a calculator cannot ask for everything they depend on. See why your pay stub will differ for the details.

Key facts that affect your take-home pay in Alabama

Your federal income tax lowers your Alabama wages

Employers subtract the federal income tax withheld from your pay before applying Alabama’s rates, and the booklet sets no cap on it. A single filer on $75,000 has about $7,670.00 of federal income tax in this calculator, so the Alabama base is $63,330 rather than $71,000. Federal tax does not include Social Security or Medicare. This is why Alabama withholding on $75,000 is $3,126.50, not the $3,510.00 you would get by applying the rates to pay minus the deduction and exemption alone.

Nearly all of the taxable amount is taxed at 5%

The three rates form a graduated schedule, but the 2% band covers only the first $500 of the base and the 4% band the next $2,500. Compared with taxing every dollar at 5%, the two low bands save a single filer $40 a year. A married filer claiming M has bands of $1,000 and $5,000, worth $80 a year. Past that, the base is taxed at 5%, whether your pay is $40,000 or $250,000.

The standard deduction is small, and it shrinks

A single filer’s standard deduction is $3,000 at most and $2,500 once pay reaches $35,500. A married filer’s drops from $8,500 to $5,000, and a head of family’s from $5,200 to $2,500. The federal $16,100 standard deduction plays no part. At $30,000 a single filer’s deduction is $2,775, and Alabama withholds $1,175.25 a year.

The married exemption assumes your spouse claims 0

On Form A-4, “M” claims the exemption for both spouses, $3,000 in all, and the booklet says the spouse must then claim “0.” The calculator’s married result is for that case: one A-4 claiming M, no dependents. On $75,000, Alabama withholds $3,038.00 for a married filer. A head of household gets the “H” exemption of $3,000, which the form allows for a single person with dependents; the calculator gives it without counting any dependents, and Alabama withholds $3,147.60 on $75,000.

Dependents are a separate line

Each dependent other than a spouse subtracts $1,000, $500 or $300 depending on pay. At $75,000 that is $500, worth about $25 a year of Alabama tax at 5%. The calculator leaves dependents out, so a household with children can expect somewhat less withheld than shown.

We found no state payroll deductions

Alabama’s Department of Workforce says the employer is taxed on the first $8,000 paid to each worker for unemployment insurance, and its pages describe no deduction from your wages. We did not find a state disability insurance or paid family leave program taken through payroll. That is a statement about what we read, not a guarantee that nothing exists, and your pay stub is the final word.

Local occupational taxes are collected by cities and counties

The Department of Revenue’s booklet says local occupational taxes are not administered by the department and that you must contact the city or county that administers one. The City of Birmingham lists an occupational tax on its Tax and License Division page. We did not find a rate on an official page, so the calculator shows none, and if you work in a city or county that levies one, your take-home pay will be lower than shown.

Your 401(k) lowers your Alabama wages

The booklet lists 401(k) contributions among the amounts excluded from wages subject to withholding. The federal tax on this page treats a traditional 401(k) contribution as reducing taxable pay, and so does the Alabama calculation here. On $75,000 with 6% going in, Alabama income tax withholding falls by $175.50 a year. Enter 0 if your contribution is a Roth.

Social Security stops, Medicare does not

Social Security is withheld at 6.2% until your wages reach $184,500 in 2026, then stops for the rest of the year. Medicare has no ceiling at all: 1.45% on every dollar, plus an extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000. On $250,000, Social Security and Medicare take $15,514.00 in total.

Common mistakes

Forgetting to subtract federal tax

Applying Alabama’s rates to pay minus the standard deduction and exemption overstates Alabama withholding by $383.50 on $75,000: $3,510.00 instead of $3,126.50.

Using one standard deduction for every income

The single deduction is $3,000 at low pay and $2,500 from $35,500 up. Using $3,000 at $75,000, instead of the $2,500 the schedule gives, would understate Alabama withholding by $25 a year.

Treating the 2% and 4% bands as the main rates

They cover only the first $3,000 of the base for a single filer, so nearly all of the tax comes from the 5% rate.

Mixing up S, M and H on Form A-4

“S” is worth $1,500 and “M” or “H” $3,000, and the married bands are wider. The booklet says that when one spouse claims M, the other must claim “0.”

Expecting a local tax line that the calculator does not have

If you work in a city or county that levies an occupational tax, it is not in the result. Check your pay stub, or ask the city or county.

Expecting the calculator to match the pay stub to the dollar

It will not, and no calculator can. Health insurance premiums and other pre-tax benefit deductions come out before tax and are not modeled here, and the letter and dependents on your Form A-4 may differ from the ones we assume. Read why your pay stub will differ for the rest.

Example calculation

Amounts are shown to the cent, so adding the rounded lines can differ from the total by a cent.

A single filer earning $75,000 in Alabama in 2026, claiming S with no dependents and no retirement contribution:

• Federal taxable income: $75,000 − federal standard deduction of $16,100 = $58,900
• Federal income tax: $7,670.00
• Social Security: $75,000 × 6.2% = $4,650.00
• Medicare: $75,000 × 1.45% = $1,087.50
• Alabama standard deduction at this pay: $2,500
• Alabama base: $75,000 − $2,500 standard deduction − $7,670.00 federal tax − $1,500 exemption = $63,330
• Tax on the base: $500 × 2% = $10.00, plus $2,500 × 4% = $100.00, plus ($63,330 − $3,000) × 5% = $3,016.50, which makes Alabama income tax withholding of $3,126.50 a year, $260.54 on a monthly paycheck or $120.25 on a biweekly one
• Total withheld: $16,534.00
• Take-home pay: $58,466.00 a year, or $4,872.17 a month
• Effective tax rate: 22.0%

Frequently asked questions

Compare with other states

The same $75,000 salary, single filer, 2026 rates. Alabama borders Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, and we publish all four. For Alabama, the state-level deductions are the income tax withholding; the other states may add payroll programs.

The table rounds take-home pay to the dollar; the differences below use the exact amounts. Compared with an Alabama worker on the same salary, a Florida worker keeps $3,126.50 more and a Tennessee worker keeps $3,126.50 more, because neither taxes wages. A Mississippi worker keeps $858.50 more, and a Georgia worker keeps $132.50 more. A worker who lives in one of those states and commutes into Alabama is a different case that this calculator does not model: it assumes an Alabama resident working in Alabama.

Sources

Every figure on this page is read from an official document and dated, not taken from another calculator — the federal ones from the IRS and the Social Security Administration, the Alabama ones from the state’s own documents below. Each one carries the date we last checked that it still answers. If one of our numbers disagrees with one of theirs, they are right and we have a defect to fix — tell us.

The documents these figures are read from

• Alabama Department of Revenue — Withholding Tax Tables and Instructions for Employers and Withholding Agents, revised January 2026 (PDF) — the withholding formula (standard deduction by income, federal tax withheld, personal exemption, dependents, the 2%, 4% and 5% rates), the schedule of standard deduction amounts and the printed withholding tables.
• Alabama Department of Revenue — Form A-4, Employee’s Withholding Tax Exemption Certificate (rev. 4/2025, PDF) — the $1,500 personal exemption for single filers and the $3,000 exemption for married filers and heads of family.
• Alabama Department of Revenue — Overtime Premium Deduction (Act 2026-604) — the deduction of up to $1,000 of overtime premium pay on the return, for 2026 through 2028.
• Alabama Department of Workforce — Employer FAQ — the statement that the employer is taxed on the first $8,000 paid to each worker, with new employers at 2.70%, and no deduction from employee wages described.
• IRS — 2026 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32) — the federal brackets and the $16,100 standard deduction.
• IRS — Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates — the 6.2% and 1.45% rates and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.
• SSA — Contribution and benefit base — the $184,500 Social Security wage base.

The agencies that set them

These are the offices that set the figures. We link them so you can start from the source yourself, but an agency’s own summary page is not always current, and we do not claim that these pages carry the 2026 number — several of them do not. Where a rate was read somewhere else, in a statute, a withholding guide or an estimated-tax form, the exact document and the date we read it are on our methodology page.

• Alabama Department of Revenue — Withholding Tax.
• City of Birmingham — Tax and License Division (it lists an occupational tax).

All links checked October 6, 2026.

Related reading

• Paycheck calculators by state — the full index, including which states have no income tax at all.
• Georgia paycheck calculator — the neighbor to the east, with a flat 4.99% rate.
• Mississippi paycheck calculator — the neighbor to the west, with a 4% rate above a $10,000 zero bracket.
• Tennessee paycheck calculator — the neighbor to the north, with no state tax on wages.
• Florida paycheck calculator — the neighbor to the south, with no state income tax.
• Oregon paycheck calculator — the other state here whose withholding formula subtracts your federal income tax, up to a cap.
• Methodology — the exact formula, every 2026 figure with its official source, and what these calculators deliberately do not model.
• Why your pay stub will differ — pre-tax deductions, credits and W-4 settings, and how much difference is normal.