Environmental Engineers in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$86,370
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$23,850
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,914
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
$110,220
Kept after tax
$86,370
Worth in national money
$84,914
State rank
13
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alaska is one of the better-paying states for environmental engineers. The middle earner takes $110,220, which ranks 13 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 2.9% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 430 occupations Alaska reports, environmental engineers comes in at 47 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $110,220, take-home of $86,370 is worth roughly $84,914 in national money. The average comes to $114,660, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska ranks 13 of 50 states publishing a median for environmental engineers, at $110,220 — about 2.9% 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.
- Environmental engineers ranks 47 of 430 occupations by median in Alaska, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for environmental engineers, whose median is $110,220, the adjusted figure of $84,914 differs little from $86,370 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $114,660 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Environmental Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $78,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $110,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $155,530 |
| This salary | $110,220 |
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 | $86,370 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $86,370 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,967 |
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 | $110,220 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,480 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Alaska earn less than $110,220. The published range is $78,940 up to $155,530, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alaska's $86,370, worked from $110,220. 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 47 of 430.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alaska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $84,914, the adjusted value of that $110,220 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 47 of 430 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for environmental engineers in Alaska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $78,940 to $155,530. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alaska take-home of $86,370, on $110,220 for work ranking 47 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 47 of 430 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alaska, so $84,914 — the adjusted value of that $110,220 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 47 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $114,660, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $78,940 at the bottom tenth to $155,530 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $84,914 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $86,370 survives, because Alaska levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Alaska is $114,660. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($78,940 to $155,530) 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 $84,914 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 $86,370 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.