How are Alabama Data Scientist salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

How many Data Scientists does Alabama employ?

BLS OES counts 1,620 Data Scientists employed in Alabama in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

Why is the BEA RPP for Alabama different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Alabama's overall index of 89.1 reflects rents 61.6, services 89.9, and goods 94.6.

Where does Alabama rank for Data Scientist pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Alabama ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

What are the limits of these Data Scientist salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Alabama?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Alabama.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

How Much Do Data Scientists Make in Alabama? $105K (2026 BLS + BEA)

TL;DR

$105,410 is the BLS median wage for Data Scientists in Alabama; $118,309 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
Bottom quartile $76,180, top quartile $128,250. The P90 ($147,980) is roughly 2.4× the P10 ($61,810).
After the cost-of-living adjustment, take-home rises by $12,899 versus the BLS median — purchasing-power arbitrage.
Data Scientist ranking: #25 on the BLS table, #15 once cost of living is in.

Wage breakdown — Alabama

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$61,810	$69,374
P25 (lower quartile)	$76,180	$85,502
P50 (median)	$105,410	$118,309
P75 (upper quartile)	$128,250	$143,944
P90 (top tier)	$147,980	$166,089
Mean	$102,970	$115,571
Employment	1,620 Data Scientists in Alabama

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Alabama index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	89.1
Goods	94.6
Services	89.9
Rents	61.6

Alabama sits below the national baseline (RPP 89.1), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 61.6.

After-tax take-home — Alabama (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Data Scientist)	$105,410	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$14,437	13.7% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$5,106	2-5% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$8,064	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$77,803	73.8% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$87,324	÷ (89.1 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Alabama state-tax burden means for Data Scientist take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 4.8% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $77,803 (73.8% of gross). After the 89.1 RPP, real take-home is $87,324. Local-tax overlay: Birmingham, Macon County, and Bessemer assess 1% occupational privilege tax on wages.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $112,590 for Data Scientists with mean pay of $124,590 and total employment of 233,440. Alabama sits at #25 on nominal pay and #15 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Alabama climbs 10 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How are Alabama Data Scientist salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
How many Data Scientists does Alabama employ?: BLS OES counts 1,620 Data Scientists employed in Alabama in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
Why is the BEA RPP for Alabama different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Alabama's overall index of 89.1 reflects rents 61.6, services 89.9, and goods 94.6.
Where does Alabama rank for Data Scientist pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Alabama ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
What are the limits of these Data Scientist salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Alabama?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Alabama.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 15-2051, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Alabama Data Scientist pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.