Helpers--Production Workers in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,353
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$6,177
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,740
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
$42,530
Kept after tax
$36,353
Worth in national money
$35,740
State rank
18
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Alaska is 18 of 49 states for helpers--production workers, with a middle wage of $42,530. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against 430 occupations Alaska publishes, helpers--production workers lands at 380. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $42,530, take-home of $36,353 is worth roughly $35,740 in national money. The average comes to $46,710, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska ranks 18 of 49 for helpers--production workers at $42,530. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Alaska, this work ranks 380 of 430 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for helpers--production workers, whose median is $42,530, the adjusted figure of $35,740 differs little from $36,353 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $46,710 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Helpers--Production Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,760 |
| This salary | $42,530 |
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 | $36,353 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,353 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,670 |
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 | $42,530 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,019 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,530 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,210 and the ninetieth is $63,760 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Alaska the take-home figure of $36,353, from $42,530, 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 380 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 $35,740 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 380.
- The Alaska median of $42,530 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,210 to $63,760. 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 $36,353 from $42,530. 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 380 of 430 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,740, worked from $42,530, 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 380 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 $46,710, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,210 at the tenth percentile, $63,760 at the ninetieth.
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 $35,740 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $36,353 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. 49 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 $46,710. 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 ($37,210 to $63,760) 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 $35,740 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 $36,353 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.