Mechanical Engineers in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$96,252
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$28,088
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$94,629
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
$124,340
Kept after tax
$96,252
Worth in national money
$94,629
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Alaska pays mechanical engineers a middle wage of $124,340, ranking 6 of 51 states and sitting about 19.43% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 430 occupations Alaska reports, mechanical engineers comes in at 29 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $124,340, take-home of $96,252 is worth roughly $94,629 in national money. The average comes to $126,160, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska's median for mechanical engineers is $124,340, about 19.43% above the national figure and 6 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Mechanical engineers ranks 29 of 430 occupations by median in Alaska, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for mechanical engineers, whose median is $124,340, the adjusted figure of $94,629 differs little from $96,252 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $126,160 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $124,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $174,320 |
| This salary | $124,340 |
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 | $96,252 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $96,252 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,421 |
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 | $124,340 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,179 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $124,340 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $76,890 and the ninetieth is $174,320 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $96,252 take-home in Alaska comes from $124,340. 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 29 of 430.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alaska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $94,629, the adjusted value of that $124,340 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 29 of 430 in the state.
- The Alaska median of $124,340 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $76,890 to $174,320. 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 $96,252, from $124,340, 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 29 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 6 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alaska, so $94,629 — the adjusted value of that $124,340 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 29 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $76,890 at the bottom tenth to $174,320 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $94,629 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $96,252 survives, because Alaska levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($76,890) and the ninetieth ($174,320) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $94,629 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 $96,252 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.