Bookkeeper salary in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area

Pay in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area against Alabama and the US

The middle half of bookkeepers in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area earns $34,550–$48,120. The top tenth earns $57,320 or more, 2.0 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.1 times. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $13,570 wide, against $14,290 across Alabama and $17,950 nationally: employers in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a bookkeeper here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $8,470 over the median, the 25th only $5,100 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $10,929 a year in employer cost. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $50,670 falls between the 75th and 90th percentiles in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area, and the Alabama statewide median of $44,640 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local bookkeepers earn.

What a hire really costs in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area

At the $39,650 median, a local hire costs about $51,161 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $11,511 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for bookkeepers we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area

Of the 15 roles we track in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area, this one ranks #9 by median pay, between payroll specialists ($45,430) and paralegals ($38,590). Project Coordinator is the highest at $91,000.

Measured against the US median, bookkeepers rank #5 of the 15 roles we track in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area (-21.7%), between recruiters (-20.1%) and virtual receptionists (-22.0%). The typical role here is at -22.2%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Bookkeepers hold 11.5% of the jobs in these 15 roles in the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area, 9.2% across Alabama and 8.8% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Alabama

Across the 16 areas of Alabama with data for this job, the median runs from $38,810 in Florence-Muscle Shoals to $47,330 in Birmingham, a gap of $8,520 a year. All 8 areas in Alabama with more bookkeepers than the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area also pay more, among them Birmingham, AL ($47,330) and Huntsville, AL ($47,130).

the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area is #366 of 521 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Alabama, Laredo and Hattiesburg pay just above the Southwest Alabama nonmetro area and Lafayette and Hot Springs just below. Of the three markets with about as many bookkeepers, all three pay more.

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Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.