Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,454
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$3,756
12.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,008
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
$30,210
Kept after tax
$26,454
Worth in national money
$26,008
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Alaska is 22 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $30,210. 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, this job ranks 428. 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 $30,210, take-home of $26,454 is worth roughly $26,008 in national money. The average comes to $33,840, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska ranks 22 of 51 for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop at $30,210. 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, hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop ranks 428 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 hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop, whose median is $30,210, the adjusted figure of $26,008 differs little from $26,454 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $33,840 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,270 |
| This salary | $30,210 |
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 | $26,454 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,454 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,215 |
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 | $30,210 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,470 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $30,210 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $24,770 and the ninetieth is $44,270 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $26,454 take-home in Alaska comes from $30,210. 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 428 of 430.
- Two cautions on $26,008, the adjusted value of that $30,210 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Alaska. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 428 of 430 locally.
- The Alaska median of $30,210 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $24,770 to $44,270. 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 $26,454, from $30,210, 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 428 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- This $26,008 adjusted figure, worked from $30,210, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 428 of 430 in the state. The occupation ranks 428 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 $33,840, 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 — $24,770 at the tenth percentile, $44,270 at the ninetieth.
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 $26,008 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $26,454 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $33,840. 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 ($24,770 to $44,270) 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 $26,008 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 $26,454 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.