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Financial Risk Specialists pay in Birmingham, AL and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Financial Risk Specialists is $81,750 per year in Birmingham, AL. It is $167,440 per year in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Birmingham, AL is 51.2% below San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 13-2054 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 110 wage and salary jobs in Birmingham, AL and 1,380 in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings
