Social and Human Service Assistants in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,234
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$7,126
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,555
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
$47,360
Kept after tax
$40,234
Worth in national money
$39,555
State rank
12
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Alaska pays this job a middle wage of $47,360, ranking 12 of 51 states and sitting about 3.11% above the national middle.
- Within Alaska this is lower-paid work. Of 430 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 342. 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 $47,360, take-home of $40,234 is worth roughly $39,555 in national money. The average comes to $52,420, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska's median for social and human service assistants is $47,360, about 3.11% above the national figure and 12 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, social and human service assistants ranks 342 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 social and human service assistants, whose median is $47,360, the adjusted figure of $39,555 differs little from $40,234 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $52,420 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Social and Human Service Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,850 |
| This salary | $47,360 |
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 | $40,234 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,234 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,848 |
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 | $47,360 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,235 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,360 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,440 and the ninetieth is $78,850 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $40,234 take-home in Alaska comes from $47,360. 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 342 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,555 uses one figure for the whole of Alaska. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 430 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 342.
- The Alaska median of $47,360 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,440 to $78,850. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $40,234, from $47,360, 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 342 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,555, worked from $47,360, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Alaska address, on work sitting at 342 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 $52,420, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,440 at the bottom tenth to $78,850 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Alaska costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $39,555 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $40,234 of this wage reaches your account, because Alaska takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 $52,420. 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 ($37,440) and the ninetieth ($78,850) 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 $39,555 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 $40,234 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.