Recreation Workers in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,319
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$5,191
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,774
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
$37,510
Kept after tax
$32,319
Worth in national money
$31,774
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alaska is one of the better-paying states for recreation workers. The middle earner takes $37,510, which ranks 10 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.6% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Alaska, this one sits low: 403 of 430 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $37,510, tax leaves $32,319, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $31,774 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $45,510, since top earners drag the number up.
- Alaska ranks 10 of 51 states publishing a median for recreation workers, at $37,510 — about 2.6% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Recreation workers occupies position 403 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 recreation workers — median $37,510 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $32,319 retained, $31,774 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $45,510 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,140 |
| This salary | $37,510 |
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 | $32,319 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,319 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,484 |
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 | $37,510 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,795 |
| 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 recreation workers in Alaska earn under $37,510 and half over. The published range runs $36,720 at the tenth percentile to $66,140 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Alaska the take-home figure of $32,319, from $37,510, 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 403 of 430 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $31,774, the adjusted value of that $37,510 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 403 of 430 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreation workers in Alaska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,720 to $66,140; 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.
- Take-home for Alaska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,319 from $37,510. 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 403 of 430 locally.
- This $31,774 adjusted figure, worked from $37,510, 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 403 of 430 in the state. The occupation ranks 403 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 $45,510, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $36,720 and the top tenth $66,140 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $31,774 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $32,319 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.
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 $45,510. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,720) and the ninetieth ($66,140) 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 $31,774 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 $32,319 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.