Ophthalmic Medical Technicians in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,331
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$7,639
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,617
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
$49,970
Kept after tax
$42,331
Worth in national money
$41,617
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for ophthalmic medical technicians is strong here. Alaska's middle earner gets $49,970, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 9.66% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Ophthalmic medical technicians ranks 319 among 430 occupations Alaska publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $49,970 the take-home is $42,331, which is worth about $41,617 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $56,900, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For ophthalmic medical technicians, Alaska sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $49,970, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 9.66% 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.
- Position 319 of 430 in Alaska places ophthalmic medical technicians in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Alaska's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for ophthalmic medical technicians on its $49,970 median: $42,331 retained after tax becomes $41,617 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $56,900 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,680 |
| This salary | $49,970 |
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 | $42,331 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,331 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,944 |
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 | $49,970 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,351 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Alaska earn less than $49,970. The published range is $44,480 up to $69,680, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alaska's $42,331, worked from $49,970. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 319 of 430.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alaska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,617, the adjusted value of that $49,970 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 319 of 430 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for ophthalmic medical technicians in Alaska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,480 to $69,680. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alaska take-home of $42,331, on $49,970 for work ranking 319 of 430 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 319 of 430 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alaska, so $41,617 — the adjusted value of that $49,970 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 319 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 $56,900, 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 — $44,480 at the tenth percentile, $69,680 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 $41,617 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $42,331 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 $56,900. 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 ($44,480 to $69,680) 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 $41,617 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 $42,331 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.