Sewing Machine Operators in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,413
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$6,437
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,783
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
$43,850
Kept after tax
$37,413
Worth in national money
$36,783
State rank
2
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Alaska pays sewing machine operators a middle wage of $43,850, ranking 2 of 50 states and sitting about 19.58% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Alaska, this one sits low: 374 of 430 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $43,850 the take-home is $37,413, which is worth about $36,783 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $46,300, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Alaska's median for sewing machine operators is $43,850, about 19.58% above the national figure and 2 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Sewing machine operators occupies position 374 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.
- Alaska's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for sewing machine operators on its $43,850 median: $37,413 retained after tax becomes $36,783 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $46,300 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Sewing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,850 |
| This salary | $43,850 |
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 | $37,413 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,413 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,718 |
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 | $43,850 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,078 |
| 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 $43,850. The published range is $34,750 up to $64,850, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Alaska the take-home figure of $37,413, from $43,850, 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 374 of 430 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Alaska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,783, the adjusted value of that $43,850 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 374 of 430 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for sewing machine operators in Alaska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,750 to $64,850. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Alaska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,413 from $43,850. 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 374 of 430 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Alaska, so $36,783 — the adjusted value of that $43,850 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 374 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 $46,300 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 — $34,750 at the tenth percentile, $64,850 at the ninetieth.
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 $36,783 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $37,413 survives, because Alaska levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $46,300. 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 ($34,750 to $64,850) 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 $36,783 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 $37,413 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.