Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,641
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$13,849
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,585
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
$76,490
Kept after tax
$62,641
Worth in national money
$61,585
State rank
25
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alaska sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $76,490, ranking 25 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 430 occupations Alaska reports figures for, this is number 183.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $76,490 the take-home is $62,641, which is worth about $61,585 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $72,730, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Alaska occupies the middle band for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary: a median of $76,490, ranking 25 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Alaska's occupational distribution, foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary sits at 183 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.
- Alaska's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary on its $76,490 median: $62,641 retained after tax becomes $61,585 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $72,730 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,990 |
| This salary | $76,490 |
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 | $62,641 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,641 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,877 |
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 | $76,490 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,974 |
| 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 foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Alaska earn under $76,490 and half over. The published range runs $47,300 at the tenth percentile to $79,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $62,641 take-home in Alaska comes from $76,490. 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 183 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $61,585 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 183.
- Figures are distribution medians for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Alaska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,300 to $79,990; 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 $62,641, from $76,490, 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 183 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $61,585, worked from $76,490, 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 183 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 $72,730, 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 $47,300 at the bottom tenth to $79,990 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 $61,585 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $62,641 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $72,730. 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 ($47,300 to $79,990) 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 $61,585 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 $62,641 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.