Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL

Across all occupations in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL metropolitan area, the median wage is $39,740 a year ($19.10 an hour) and the mean $50,400, May 2025. That median is −22% against the US median of $50,980 and −13% against Alabama's $45,670. BLS counts 56,100 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is nurse anesthetists; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL vs Alabama and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL area, Alabama and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL	Hourly	$11.09	$14.20	$19.10	$28.99	$39.93	$24.23	56,100
Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL	Annual	$23,060	$29,530	$39,740	$60,290	$83,050	$50,400	56,100
Alabama	Hourly	$12.54	$15.41	$21.96	$32.11	$48.68	$27.65	2,113,660
Alabama	Annual	$26,090	$32,050	$45,670	$66,790	$101,250	$57,500	2,113,660
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

219 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Alabama. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Nurse Anesthetists	$188,760	$90.75	50
2	Chief Executives	$164,770	$79.21	30
3	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$157,570	$75.76	50
4	Dentists, General	$153,870	$73.98	50
5	Facilities Managers	$140,000	$67.31	30
6	Electrical Engineers	$131,330	$63.14	50
7	Pharmacists	$130,540	$62.76	160
8	Financial Managers in Alabama	$128,830	$61.94	150
9	Physicians, All Other	$125,010	$60.10	140
10	Industrial Production Managers	$120,490	$57.93	130
11	Human Resources Managers	$117,960	$56.71	30
12	Software Developers in Alabama	$116,260	$55.89	130
13	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Alabama	$109,970	$52.87	60
14	Mechanical Engineers	$108,510	$52.17	80
15	Sales Managers in Alabama	$104,010	$50.00	80
16	Nurse Practitioners	$101,040	$48.58	220
17	Civil Engineers	$100,300	$48.22	110
18	Veterinarians	$98,990	$47.59	30
19	Lawyers in Alabama	$98,850	$47.53	110
20	Industrial Engineers	$98,550	$47.38	140

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons in Alabama	2,080	37.16	1.48	$28,980
2	Cashiers in Alabama	1,580	28.11	1.41	$27,310
3	Registered Nurses in Alabama	1,320	23.52	1.08	$66,360
4	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Alabama	1,310	23.32	0.94	$22,590
5	Stockers and Order Fillers in Alabama	1,190	21.17	1.16	$30,570
6	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Alabama	1,160	20.75	1.89	$38,850
7	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Alabama	1,130	20.09	1.06	$36,370
8	Waiters and Waitresses in Alabama	1,100	19.62	1.34	$25,990
9	Cooks, Fast Food in Alabama	900	15.96	3.87	$26,820
10	First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers in Alabama	830	14.71	2.04	$43,960
10	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Alabama	830	14.83	1.12	$48,140
12	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Alabama	750	13.43	0.95	$29,540
13	General and Operations Managers in Alabama	740	13.25	0.59	$97,600
14	Nursing Assistants in Alabama	700	12.48	1.34	$31,940
15	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Alabama	670	11.88	2.74	$62,760
16	Customer Service Representatives in Alabama	650	11.51	0.69	$37,520
17	Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Alabama	620	11.08	1.62	$62,080
17	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Alabama	620	11.04	0.40	$27,320
17	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Alabama	620	11.02	1.12	$45,660
20	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Alabama	610	10.93	1.39	$35,630

Most concentrated occupations in Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary	9.19	540	9.70	$19,550
2	Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	7.10	390	6.87	$37,150
3	Helpers--Electricians	6.30	140	2.58	$34,310
4	Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing	4.71	100	1.86	$36,060
5	Cooks, Fast Food in Alabama	3.87	900	15.96	$26,820
6	Industrial Machinery Mechanics	3.64	580	10.28	$59,370
7	Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	3.38	190	3.45	$39,740
8	Paramedics	2.78	100	1.80	$46,080
9	First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Alabama	2.74	670	11.88	$62,760
10	Tellers	2.29	270	4.86	$35,780

Occupation groups in Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$95,610	$107,450	2,570	45.76	0.64
Architecture and Engineering	$83,660	$91,110	720	12.79	0.76
Computer and Mathematical	$74,000	$84,120	480	8.55	0.25
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$70,710	$80,100	190	3.40	0.36
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$65,090	$84,010	3,990	71.04	1.12
Business and Financial Operations	$60,880	$71,640	2,170	38.60	0.57
Legal	$59,960	$83,040	270	4.73	0.56
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$55,540	$58,220	3,050	54.36	1.39
Community and Social Service	$49,440	$53,730	530	9.44	0.55
Educational Instruction and Library	$49,210	$47,480	3,610	64.34	1.10
Construction and Extraction	$47,750	$51,870	3,070	54.79	1.33
Production	$40,770	$47,770	5,430	96.80	1.76
Protective Service	$40,080	$46,840	910	16.18	0.67
Office and Administrative Support	$37,520	$41,530	5,960	106.24	0.93
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$37,110	$44,440	460	8.14	0.62
Transportation and Material Moving	$36,370	$40,530	5,390	96.00	1.09
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$34,230	$38,920	210	3.75	1.34
Healthcare Support	$31,160	$33,740	2,250	40.16	0.79
Sales and Related	$31,140	$41,230	6,200	110.44	1.28
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$30,730	$34,060	1,610	28.75	0.98
Personal Care and Service	$27,390	$30,790	940	16.84	0.80
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$26,520	$27,800	6,110	108.92	1.24

Every occupation in Alabama, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 219 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL estimates (area 22520).

*: Wage estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.