Helpers--Carpenters in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,685
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$5,525
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,117
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
$39,210
Kept after tax
$33,685
Worth in national money
$33,117
State rank
34
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alaska is among the lower-paying states for helpers--carpenters. The middle earner takes $39,210, ranking 34 of 47 states — about 10.44% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Alaska, this one sits low: 395 of 430 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $39,210 the take-home is $33,685, which is worth about $33,117 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $41,720, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alaska ranks 34 of 47 for helpers--carpenters, with a median of $39,210 — about 10.44% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Helpers--carpenters occupies position 395 of 430 in Alaska's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Alaska's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for helpers--carpenters on its $39,210 median: $33,685 retained after tax becomes $33,117 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $41,720 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Helpers--Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,270 |
| This salary | $39,210 |
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 | $33,685 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,685 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,547 |
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 | $39,210 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,871 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,210 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,270 and the ninetieth is $50,270 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $33,685 take-home in Alaska comes from $39,210. 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 395 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,117 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 395.
- The Alaska median of $39,210 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,270 to $50,270. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $33,685, from $39,210, 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 395 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,117, worked from $39,210, 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 395 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 $41,720, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,270 and the top tenth $50,270, so most people doing this work in Alaska sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $33,117 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $33,685 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.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 $41,720. 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 ($36,270 to $50,270) 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 $33,117 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 $33,685 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.