By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

Residents of Shelby County live in the most “paycheck-friendly” county in the state, according to a national website.

The Smartasset.com website recently calculated the most paycheck-friendly places in the state, and ranked each county based on four financial criteria: Semi-monthly paycheck, purchasing power, unemployment rate and income growth.

“Our study aims to find the most paycheck friendly places in the country. These are places in the country with favorable economic conditions where you get to keep more of the money you make,” read the website.

Shelby County topped Alabama’s overall paycheck friendliness rankings, posting an overall score of 47.82 on the paycheck friendliness index.

Shelby County posted a semi-monthly paycheck of $1,602, which ranked in the bottom portion of the state rankings. However, the monthly paycheck amount allows Shelby County residents to have a 2.29-times purchasing power, which is tops in the state by far.

Shelby County also tops the state in unemployment rate at 4.8 percent, but only has a 0.6 percent income growth, which ranks 42^nd out of Alabama counties.

Shelby County’s overall paycheck friendliness rate of 47.82 topped No. 2 Madison County at 45.08, No. 3 Limestone County at 43.34, No. 4 Tuscaloosa County at 43.03 and No. 5 Elmore County at 42.92.

Rounding out the top 10 were No. 6 St. Clair County at 42.65, No. 7 Henry County at 42.63, No. 8 Bullock County at 42.52, No. 9 Autauga County at 41.79 and No. 10 Lee County at 41.72.

To view the entire rankings, visit Smartasset.com/taxes/alabama-paycheck-calculator#alabama/overall.