Food Batchmakers in Alaska

Machined metal parts and a CNC machine in a clean manufacturing workshop.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$33,541

after federal, FICA and Alaska tax

Tax takes

$5,489

14.1% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$32,975

Alaska costs more than average

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

$39,030

Kept after tax

$33,541

Worth in national money

$32,975

State rank

32

of 50 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Neither high nor low. Alaska is 32 of 50 states for food batchmakers, with a middle wage of $39,030. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
  • Within Alaska this is lower-paid work. Of 430 occupations the state publishes figures for, food batchmakers ranks 397. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
  • No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $39,030, take-home of $33,541 is worth roughly $32,975 in national money. The average comes to $43,500, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Alaska ranks 32 of 50 for food batchmakers at $39,030. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
  • Against every occupation Alaska reports, food batchmakers ranks 397 of 430, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
  • Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for food batchmakers, whose median is $39,030, the adjusted figure of $32,975 differs little from $33,541 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $43,500 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Food Batchmakers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$34,540
Half earn under$39,030
Top tenth earn over$56,070
This salary$39,030

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

Compare with
$0take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Alaska$33,541
Take-home in Texas$33,541
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$1,541

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

Moving to
$0now · $39,030$37,167
$37,167in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$39,030
You could take a cut of−$1,863
Prices in Texas97 vs 102

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Treat $39,030 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,540 and the ninetieth is $56,070 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
  • In Alaska the take-home figure of $33,541, from $39,030, 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 397 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 $32,975 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 397.
  • The Alaska median of $39,030 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,540 to $56,070. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
  • Take-home for Alaska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $33,541 from $39,030. 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 397 of 430 locally.
  • Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,975, worked from $39,030, 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 397 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 $43,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $34,540 and the top tenth $56,070, so most people doing this work in Alaska sit within a fairly tight band.

Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?

The number and the value are different things. Alaska costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $32,975 rather than its face figure.

Is most of this wage taxed away?

No. $33,541 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?

The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.

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 $43,500. 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 ($34,540 to $56,070) 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 $32,975 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 $33,541 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.