Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,001
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$13,579
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,955
Alaska costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Alaska — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$75,580
Kept after tax
$62,001
Worth in national money
$60,955
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Alaska pays this job a middle wage of $75,580, ranking 3 of 51 states and sitting about 22.36% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 430 occupations Alaska reports figures for, this is number 188.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $75,580, take-home of $62,001 is worth roughly $60,955 in national money. The average lands at $74,580, below the middle of the range.
- Alaska's median for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists is $75,580, about 22.36% above the national figure and 3 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Alaska's occupational distribution, bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists sits at 188 of 430 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists, whose median is $75,580, the adjusted figure of $60,955 differs little from $62,001 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $74,580 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,610 |
| This salary | $75,580 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Alaska | $62,001 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,001 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,848 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $75,580 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,934 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $75,580 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $52,000 and the ninetieth is $98,610 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alaska's $62,001, worked from $75,580. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 188 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $60,955 uses one figure for the whole of Alaska. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 430 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 188.
- The Alaska median of $75,580 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $52,000 to $98,610. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Alaska take-home of $62,001, on $75,580 for work ranking 188 of 430 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 188 of 430 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $60,955, worked from $75,580, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Alaska address, on work sitting at 188 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $52,000 and the top tenth $98,610, so most people doing this work in Alaska sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $60,955 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $62,001 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($52,000 to $98,610) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Alaska rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Alaska's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $60,955 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Alaska levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $62,001 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.