Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,524
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$18,436
20.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,284
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
$91,960
Kept after tax
$73,524
Worth in national money
$72,284
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alaska is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $91,960, which ranks 8 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 11.85% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 430 occupations Alaska reports, this job comes in at 106 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $91,960 the take-home is $73,524, which is worth about $72,284 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $100,490, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alaska ranks 8 of 51 states publishing a median for environmental scientists and specialists, including health, at $91,960 — about 11.85% 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 scientists and specialists, including health ranks 106 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.
- Alaska's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for environmental scientists and specialists, including health on its $91,960 median: $73,524 retained after tax becomes $72,284 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $100,490 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $147,910 |
| This salary | $91,960 |
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 | $73,524 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,524 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,377 |
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 | $91,960 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,665 |
| 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 $91,960. The published range is $61,840 up to $147,910, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alaska the take-home figure of $73,524, from $91,960, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 106 of 430 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $72,284 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 106.
- Reported values are medians; for environmental scientists and specialists, including health in Alaska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,840 to $147,910. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Alaska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $73,524 from $91,960. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 106 of 430 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $72,284, worked from $91,960, 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 106 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $100,490, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $61,840 at the bottom tenth to $147,910 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $72,284 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $73,524 of this wage reaches your account, because Alaska takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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.
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 $100,490. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($61,840) and the ninetieth ($147,910) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $72,284 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 $73,524 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.