Retail Salespersons in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,143
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$5,147
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,601
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
$37,290
Kept after tax
$32,143
Worth in national money
$31,601
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Alaska pays retail salespersons a middle wage of $37,290, ranking 8 of 51 states and sitting about 5.31% above the national middle.
- Within Alaska this is lower-paid work. Of 430 occupations the state publishes figures for, retail salespersons ranks 406. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $37,290, take-home of $32,143 is worth roughly $31,601 in national money. The average comes to $39,890, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska's median for retail salespersons is $37,290, about 5.31% above the national figure and 8 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.
- Against every occupation Alaska reports, retail salespersons ranks 406 of 430, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for retail salespersons, whose median is $37,290, the adjusted figure of $31,601 differs little from $32,143 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $39,890 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,200 |
| This salary | $37,290 |
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 | $32,143 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,143 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,476 |
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 | $37,290 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,786 |
| 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 $37,290. The published range is $30,700 up to $51,200, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $32,143 take-home in Alaska comes from $37,290. 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 406 of 430.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alaska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $31,601, the adjusted value of that $37,290 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 406 of 430 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for retail salespersons in Alaska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,700 to $51,200. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $32,143, from $37,290, 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 406 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alaska, so $31,601 — the adjusted value of that $37,290 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 406 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $39,890 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,700 at the tenth percentile, $51,200 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 $31,601 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $32,143 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?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $39,890. 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 ($30,700 to $51,200) 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 $31,601 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 $32,143 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.