Payroll Specialist salary in Birmingham, AL

Pay in Birmingham against Alabama and the US

The middle half of payroll specialists in Birmingham earns $42,840–$57,730. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $65,140, only 1.8 times the bottom tenth, against 2.1 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $14,890 wide, against $17,510 across Alabama and $21,610 nationally: employers in Birmingham pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a payroll specialist here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $9,350 over the median, the 25th only $5,540 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $12,065 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 $58,260 falls between the 75th and 90th percentiles in Birmingham, and the Alabama statewide median of $46,170 falls between the 25th percentile and the median. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local payroll specialists earn.

What a hire really costs in Birmingham

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $14,046 to the $48,380 median and brings it to $62,426 a year. 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 payroll specialists 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 Birmingham

Of the 16 roles we track in Birmingham, this one ranks #9 by median pay, between paralegals ($53,160) and bookkeepers ($47,330). Project Coordinator is the highest at $100,820.

Measured against the US median, payroll specialists rank #15 of the 16 roles we track in Birmingham (-17.0%), between paralegals (-15.5%) and marketing specialists (-21.0%). The typical role here is at -8.6%, so, measured against the US, payroll specialists cost less in Birmingham than the area's general pay level would suggest. Payroll specialists hold 0.6% of the jobs in the 15 of these roles with a job count in Birmingham, 0.7% across Alabama and 1.0% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Alabama

Across the 13 areas of Alabama with data for this job, the median runs from $38,550 in Dothan to $52,020 in Huntsville, a gap of $13,470 a year. No other area in Alabama has as many payroll specialists, and 11 of the other 12 pay less.

Birmingham against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Birmingham is #66 of 482 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, yet its pay sits in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Alabama, Bangor and Terre Haute pay just above Birmingham and Pensacola-Ferry Pass and Wichita Falls just below. All four are within $130 a year of the median in Birmingham. Of the three markets with about as many payroll specialists, all three pay more.

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Sources

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