Soil and Plant Scientists in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,405
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$20,915
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,066
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
$100,320
Kept after tax
$79,405
Worth in national money
$78,066
State rank
3
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Alaska pays soil and plant scientists a middle wage of $100,320, ranking 3 of 46 states and sitting about 27.23% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 430 occupations Alaska reports, soil and plant scientists comes in at 75 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $100,320, take-home of $79,405 is worth roughly $78,066 in national money. The average comes to $102,230, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska's median for soil and plant scientists is $100,320, about 27.23% above the national figure and 3 of 46 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Soil and plant scientists ranks 75 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 soil and plant scientists, whose median is $100,320, the adjusted figure of $78,066 differs little from $79,405 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $102,230 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $73,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $167,160 |
| This salary | $100,320 |
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 | $79,405 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,405 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,647 |
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 | $100,320 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,038 |
| 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 soil and plant scientists in Alaska earn under $100,320 and half over. The published range runs $73,690 at the tenth percentile to $167,160 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Alaska the take-home figure of $79,405, from $100,320, 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 75 of 430 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $78,066, the adjusted value of that $100,320 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 75 of 430 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for soil and plant scientists in Alaska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $73,690 to $167,160; 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 $79,405 from $100,320. 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 75 of 430 locally.
- This $78,066 adjusted figure, worked from $100,320, 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 75 of 430 in the state. The occupation ranks 75 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $73,690 at the bottom tenth to $167,160 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $78,066 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $79,405 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.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($73,690) and the ninetieth ($167,160) 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 $78,066 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 $79,405 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.