Tuscaloosa, AL Salaries
Local wages where BEA prices sit below the US average (RPP 87.7) - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Tuscaloosa, AL moved from $45,440 in May 2024 to $45,220 in May 2025 (-0.5%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Tuscaloosa, AL sits -3.6 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Registered Nurses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Tuscaloosa, AL
Registered Nurses publishes $75,250 here versus $97,550 nationally (-22.9%; 2,590metro-area jobs). Next is Fast Food and Counter Workers at $24,630 locally versus $31,200 nationally (-21.1%).
- Registered Nurses$75,250 in Tuscaloosa, AL sits 22.9% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (2,590 published local jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$24,630 in Tuscaloosa, AL sits 21.1% below the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (2,360 published local jobs).
- Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators$53,050 in Tuscaloosa, AL sits 18.8% above the national Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators median of $44,650 (7,320 published local jobs).
- Retail Salespersons$29,630 in Tuscaloosa, AL sits 16.3% below the national Retail Salespersons median of $35,410 (2,990 published local jobs).
Registered Nurses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Tuscaloosa, AL; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 46220 · Tuscaloosa, AL $53K mean
MEAN-TRACE · RPP-QUIET · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-BEHIND · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-MOST
- MEAN-TRACE #416/528
- RPP-QUIET 87.7
- OCC-MID 294 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $244K
- EMP-MIX General and…
- TREND-BEHIND -3.6 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Weirton-Steubenv…
- BOOK-MOST 291 rows · May 2025
Read with Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH (+$13 on published-row mean) · Salary vs. cost of living
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Tuscaloosa, AL
Where Tuscaloosa, AL already employs the upper wage tier
General and Operations Managers and Industrial Engineers lead published employment inside Tuscaloosa, AL's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. General and Operations Managers 1,210 jobs · $101,210
- 2. Industrial Engineers 700 jobs · $104,840
- 3. Pharmacists 320 jobs · $132,430
- 4. Nurse Practitioners 300 jobs · $110,460
- 5. Software Developers 290 jobs · $104,870
- 6. Financial Managers 240 jobs · $130,000
- 7. Industrial Production Managers 240 jobs · $123,390
- 8. Computer and Information Systems Managers 210 jobs · $126,270
- 9. Lawyers 190 jobs · $114,100
- 10. Physicians, All Other 170 jobs · $243,530
- 11. Sales Managers 120 jobs · $108,750
- 12. Physical Therapists 120 jobs · $106,450
- 13. Architectural and Engineering Managers 100 jobs · $140,070
- 14. Nurse Anesthetists 90 jobs · $195,660
- 15. Mechanical Engineers 90 jobs · $110,520
- 16. Computer Network Architects 80 jobs · $124,860
- 17. Human Resources Managers 80 jobs · $105,020
- 18. Electrical Engineers 70 jobs · $114,980
Occupations Tracked
294
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$53,084
employment-weighted, 291 complete rows
Top Salary
$243,530
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
87.7
12% below US avg
Top-pay occupations in Tuscaloosa, AL, by employment
Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | General and Operations Managers | $101,210 |
| 2 | Industrial Engineers | $104,840 |
| 3 | Pharmacists | $132,430 |
| 4 | Nurse Practitioners | $110,460 |
| 5 | Software Developers | $104,870 |
| 6 | Financial Managers | $130,000 |
| 7 | Industrial Production Managers | $123,390 |
| 8 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $126,270 |
| 9 | Lawyers | $114,100 |
| 10 | Physicians, All Other | $243,530 |
| 11 | Sales Managers | $108,750 |
| 12 | Physical Therapists | $106,450 |
| 13 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $140,070 |
| 14 | Nurse Anesthetists | $195,660 |
| 15 | Mechanical Engineers | $110,520 |
| 16 | Computer Network Architects | $124,860 |
| 17 | Human Resources Managers | $105,020 |
| 18 | Electrical Engineers | $114,980 |
| 19 | Electronics Engineers, Except Computer | $116,660 |
| 20 | Computer Occupations, All Other | $115,750 |
| 21 | Purchasing Managers | $114,960 |
| 22 | Facilities Managers | $129,880 |
| 23 | Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers | $125,100 |
| 24 | Chief Executives | $164,810 |
| 25 | Physician Assistants | $101,120 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Tuscaloosa, AL
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Bus Drivers, School | $17,130 |
| Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary | $21,690 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $22,030 |
| Childcare Workers | $22,040 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $22,110 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $22,460 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $24,630 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $24,640 |
| Substitute Teachers, Short-Term | $25,340 |
| Residential Advisors | $26,170 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in AL
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside AL. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($53,084 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the lower price level do to Tuscaloosa, AL wage reading? ▼
What is the highest paying job in Tuscaloosa, AL? ▼
What jobs pay the least in Tuscaloosa, AL? ▼
Which federal tables feed Tuscaloosa, AL's wage and price figures? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Tuscaloosa, AL wage figures in a real decision
- Physicians, All Other leads published medians in Tuscaloosa, AL at $243,530/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Physicians, All Other
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $53,084 adjusts to about $60,514 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 87.7. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for AL before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.