2026 Alabama paycheck calculator
Alabama subtracts your federal income tax from pay before applying its 2, 4, and 5 percent rates.
Updated for 2026Checked Oct 29, 2026 against IRS and Alabama Department of Revenue sourcesHow we check
Your take-home pay
$1,228.14
per paycheck, paid every two weeks
- Gross pay
- $1,500.00
- Federal income tax
- $96.15
- Social Security
- $93.00
- Medicare
- $21.75
- County tax
- Choose your county
- Take-home
- $1,228.14
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Take-home pay $1,228.14
Alabama pay rules at a glance
| State income tax | Rates rise with pay Source |
| County or local tax | Some Alabama cities and counties charge an occupational tax on wages earned there, which the employer takes out of each paycheck. Birmingham's is 1 percent of pay for work done in the city. Other places, such as Bessemer, Gadsden, Auburn, Opelika, and Macon County, are reported to charge one too, but their rates are not confirmed here. Source |
| Disability or paid leave | None Source |
| Minimum wage | $7.25 an hour Source |
| Tipped minimum cash wage | $2.13 an hour, before tips Source |
| Final paycheck if you are let go | No Alabama law sets a deadline for a final paycheck that we could confirm; the employer pays on its normal schedule. The Alabama Department of Labor sends pay questions to the U.S. Department of Labor (see openQuestions). Source |
| Final paycheck if you quit | Same as involuntary: no Alabama deadline confirmed (see openQuestions). Source |
What comes out of a Alabama paycheck
On $1,500 every two weeks, single, an Alabama worker keeps $1,228.14.
Alabama uses three rates for 2026. On a single worker's yearly taxable pay, 2 percent applies to the first $500, 4 percent to the next $2,500, and 5 percent above $3,000. Married workers get wider steps: 2 percent on the first $1,000, 4 percent on the next $5,000, and 5 percent above $6,000. The calculator follows the formula in the Department of Revenue's January 2026 booklet.
One feature is unusual: the federal income tax withheld from the same paycheck comes off your pay before the state tax is figured. The calculator uses the federal amount it shows you, so anything that lowers your federal withholding raises your Alabama tax a little.
Three more subtractions follow, all taken from yearly pay. The standard deduction is up to $3,000 for single workers, $8,500 for married workers, and $5,200 for heads of family, and it shrinks as pay rises. For single workers it bottoms out at $2,500. The personal exemption is $1,500 for single workers and $3,000 for married workers and heads of family. Each dependent other than a spouse is worth $1,000 when yearly pay is $50,000 or less, $500 up to $100,000, and $300 above that. Alabama meant head of family status for workers who support a dependent, but the calculator applies it whenever you pick head of household.
County and local taxes
Birmingham takes 1 percent of pay from people who work inside the city, and the employer withholds it each payday. The calculator describes that tax without computing it, so a Birmingham worker should expect about 1 percent of gross pay to leave the check beyond the amount shown.
Reports say Bessemer, Gadsden, Auburn, Opelika, and Macon County charge a similar tax. We have not confirmed their rates, so nothing is assumed for them. The state revenue department does not run these taxes, and its booklet tells workers to ask the city or county that does.
Final pay and the minimum wage
Alabama has no state minimum wage law, so the federal $7.25 an hour applies to employers covered by federal law. Tipped workers get a cash wage of $2.13 an hour, with tips on top. Alabama code also keeps cities and counties from requiring any wage that state or federal law does not, so no local minimum applies.
We could not find an Alabama deadline for final pay, whether you are fired or you quit, and the employer simply pays on its normal schedule. The state labor department's own answer to pay questions is to point workers to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Nearby states
Sources and checks
Checked on Oct 29, 2026. Source: Alabama Department of Revenue, Withholding Tax Tables and Instructions for Employers and Withholding Agents (cover: "REVISED January 2026"), "Formula For Computing Alabama Withholding Tax", PDF page 8 (printed page 7): Line 2B "Employee's annual Federal withholding tax"; Line 5 rates "1st $500 2%, Next $2,500 4%, Over $3,000 5%" for "0", "S", "H" or "MS" and "1st $1,000 2%, Next $5,000 4%, Over $6,000 5%" for "M" (revenue.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/whbooklet_0126.pdf, saved as data/sources/alabama/whbooklet_0126.pdf, read Oct 29, 2026).
Local taxes: Birmingham City Code, Title 3A, Chapter 2, Occupational Tax (library.municode.com/al/birmingham/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PT1THCOGEOR_TIT3ARETA_CH2OCTA, saved as data/sources/alabama/birmingham-code-title3-chapter2-occupational-tax.txt, read Oct 29, 2026), Sec. 3A-2-5(a): "Each employer shall deduct from each payment of gross receipts and compensation due each employee the amount of the occupational license fees measured by one percent of the compensation due each employee". The state withholding booklet (PDF page 3) says "local occupational taxes are not administered by the Department of Revenue" and "To obtain information concerning local occupational tax, you must contact the city or county which is administering the tax." Other cities and counties are in openQuestions.
Disability and paid leave: Alabama runs no state disability or paid-family-leave program paid by an employee payroll deduction: the 2026 withholding booklet (saved as data/sources/alabama/whbooklet_0126.pdf, read Oct 29, 2026) covers state income tax as the only state withholding and notes that unemployment tax is a separate employer tax handled by the Alabama Department of Labor (PDF page 3); no Alabama law or agency page describing an employee-paid program was found.
Minimum wage: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, "State Minimum Wage Laws" (dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state, "Updated July 1, 2026", saved as data/sources/alabama/dol-whd-state-minimum-wage.html, read Oct 29, 2026): "Alabama: No state minimum wage law. Employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must pay the current Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour." Alabama Code Section 25-7-41 (alison.legislature.state.al.us/code-of-alabama?section=25-7-41, saved as data/sources/alabama/code-of-alabama-25-7-41.txt, read Oct 29, 2026) bars cities and counties from requiring any wage "that is not required by state or federal law", so no local minimum wage applies. No scheduled change.
Final paycheck: Alabama Department of Labor, FAQ "I have questions about pay, unpaid wages, breaks, vacation pay, FMLA, etc." (adol.alabama.gov/faq/i-have-questions-about-pay-unpaid-wages-breaks-vacation-pay-fmla-etc/, saved as data/sources/alabama/adol-faq-pay-unpaid-wages.html, read Oct 29, 2026): "Contact the US Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division at (866) 487-9243 or (334) 223-7450 or www.dol.gov/agencies/whd." No Alabama statute setting a final-pay deadline was found.
Federal withholding: IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A and its "2026 Percentage Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems and Withholding on Periodic Payments of Pensions and Annuities," pages 10 to 12. Fetched directly from irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf and transcribed Oct 28, 2026.
Every figure above comes from the sources listed here. How we check our numbers.
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