Respiratory Therapists in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,738
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$20,212
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,427
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
$97,950
Kept after tax
$77,738
Worth in national money
$76,427
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for respiratory therapists is strong here. Alaska's middle earner gets $97,950, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 19.04% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 430 occupations Alaska reports, respiratory therapists comes in at 87 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $97,950, take-home of $77,738 is worth roughly $76,427 in national money. The average lands at $96,290, below the middle of the range.
- For respiratory therapists, Alaska sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $97,950, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 19.04% 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.
- Respiratory therapists ranks 87 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 respiratory therapists, whose median is $97,950, the adjusted figure of $76,427 differs little from $77,738 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $96,290 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $80,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $114,590 |
| This salary | $97,950 |
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 | $77,738 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,738 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,571 |
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 | $97,950 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,932 |
| 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 $97,950. The published range is $80,250 up to $114,590, 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 $77,738, worked from $97,950. 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 87 of 430.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alaska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $76,427, the adjusted value of that $97,950 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 87 of 430 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for respiratory therapists in Alaska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $80,250 to $114,590. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Alaska take-home of $77,738, on $97,950 for work ranking 87 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 87 of 430 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alaska, so $76,427 — the adjusted value of that $97,950 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 87 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $80,250 at the tenth percentile, $114,590 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 $76,427 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $77,738 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?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($80,250 to $114,590) 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 $76,427 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 $77,738 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.