Couriers and Messengers in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,702
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$6,018
14.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,100
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
$41,720
Kept after tax
$35,702
Worth in national money
$35,100
State rank
11
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alaska is one of the better-paying states for couriers and messengers. The middle earner takes $41,720, which ranks 11 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 6.43% above the national middle.
- Against 430 occupations Alaska publishes, couriers and messengers lands at 381. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $41,720, tax leaves $35,702, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $35,100 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $42,480, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alaska ranks 11 of 51 states publishing a median for couriers and messengers, at $41,720 — about 6.43% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Alaska, this work ranks 381 of 430 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Alaska sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for couriers and messengers — median $41,720 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $35,702 retained, $35,100 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $42,480 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Couriers and Messengers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,720 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,180 |
| This salary | $41,720 |
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 | $35,702 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,702 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,640 |
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 | $41,720 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,983 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of couriers and messengers in Alaska earn under $41,720 and half over. The published range runs $37,100 at the tenth percentile to $48,180 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $35,702 take-home in Alaska comes from $41,720. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 381 of 430.
- Two cautions on $35,100, the adjusted value of that $41,720 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Alaska. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 381 of 430 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for couriers and messengers in Alaska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,100 to $48,180; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $35,702, from $41,720, assumes a single Alaska filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 381 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 51 for it.
- This $35,100 adjusted figure, worked from $41,720, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 381 of 430 in the state. The occupation ranks 381 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,100 at the tenth percentile, $48,180 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Alaska run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $35,100 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $35,702 survives, because Alaska levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,100 to $48,180) 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 $35,100 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 $35,702 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.