Tax Preparers in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,286
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$10,074
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,405
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
$62,360
Kept after tax
$52,286
Worth in national money
$51,405
State rank
7
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Alaska pays tax preparers a middle wage of $62,360, ranking 7 of 48 states and sitting about 13.55% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 430 occupations Alaska reports figures for, this is number 239.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $62,360, take-home of $52,286 is worth roughly $51,405 in national money. The average comes to $77,490, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska's median for tax preparers is $62,360, about 13.55% above the national figure and 7 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Alaska's occupational distribution, tax preparers sits at 239 of 430 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for tax preparers, whose median is $62,360, the adjusted figure of $51,405 differs little from $52,286 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $77,490 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tax Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $117,890 |
| This salary | $62,360 |
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 | $52,286 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,402 |
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 | $62,360 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,905 |
| 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 $62,360. The published range is $40,340 up to $117,890, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $52,286 take-home in Alaska comes from $62,360. 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 239 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,405 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 239.
- Reported values are medians; for tax preparers in Alaska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,340 to $117,890. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $52,286, from $62,360, 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 239 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 7 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,405, worked from $62,360, 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 239 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 $77,490 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $40,340 at the bottom tenth to $117,890 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 $51,405 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $52,286 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $77,490. 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 ($40,340) and the ninetieth ($117,890) 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 $51,405 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 $52,286 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.