Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,178
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$7,112
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,500
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
$47,290
Kept after tax
$40,178
Worth in national money
$39,500
State rank
6
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Alaska pays this job a middle wage of $47,290, ranking 6 of 48 states and sitting about 11.64% above the national middle.
- Within Alaska this is lower-paid work. Of 430 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 343. 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 $47,290, take-home of $40,178 is worth roughly $39,500 in national money. The average comes to $47,370, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska's median for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters is $47,290, about 11.64% above the national figure and 6 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Against every occupation Alaska reports, helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ranks 343 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 helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, whose median is $47,290, the adjusted figure of $39,500 differs little from $40,178 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $47,370 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,690 |
| This salary | $47,290 |
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 | $40,178 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,178 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,845 |
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 | $47,290 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,232 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,290 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,640 and the ninetieth is $55,690 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $40,178 take-home in Alaska comes from $47,290. 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 343 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,500 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 343.
- The Alaska median of $47,290 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,640 to $55,690. 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 $40,178, from $47,290, 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 343 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,500, worked from $47,290, 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 343 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,640 and the top tenth $55,690, 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 $39,500 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $40,178 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 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,640 to $55,690) 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 $39,500 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 $40,178 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.