Manicurists and Pedicurists in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,660
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$7,230
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,974
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
$47,890
Kept after tax
$40,660
Worth in national money
$39,974
State rank
5
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for manicurists and pedicurists is strong here. Alaska's middle earner gets $47,890, putting the state 5 of 49 — about 33.92% ahead of the national figure.
- Measured against other jobs in Alaska, this one sits low: 335 of 430 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $47,890, tax leaves $40,660, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $39,974 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $47,720.
- For manicurists and pedicurists, Alaska sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $47,890, ranking 5 of 49 and running about 33.92% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Manicurists and pedicurists occupies position 335 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.
- Because Alaska sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for manicurists and pedicurists — median $47,890 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $40,660 retained, $39,974 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $47,720 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Manicurists and Pedicurists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,620 |
| This salary | $47,890 |
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 | $40,660 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,660 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,868 |
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 | $47,890 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,259 |
| 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 manicurists and pedicurists in Alaska earn under $47,890 and half over. The published range runs $28,020 at the tenth percentile to $59,620 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,660 take-home in Alaska comes from $47,890. 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 335 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,974 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 335.
- Figures are distribution medians for manicurists and pedicurists in Alaska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,020 to $59,620; 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 $40,660, from $47,890, 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 335 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,974, worked from $47,890, 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 335 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $28,020 and the top tenth $59,620, 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 $39,974 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $40,660 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 49 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 ($28,020 to $59,620) 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 $39,974 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 $40,660 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.