Technical Writers in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$67,361
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$15,839
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,225
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
$83,200
Kept after tax
$67,361
Worth in national money
$66,225
State rank
25
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Alaska is 25 of 45 states for technical writers, with a middle wage of $83,200. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 430 occupations Alaska reports figures for, this is number 132.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $83,200, take-home of $67,361 is worth roughly $66,225 in national money. The average lands at $80,420, below the middle of the range.
- Alaska ranks 25 of 45 for technical writers at $83,200. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Alaska's occupational distribution, technical writers sits at 132 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 technical writers, whose median is $83,200, the adjusted figure of $66,225 differs little from $67,361 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $80,420 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Technical Writers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,120 |
| This salary | $83,200 |
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 | $67,361 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,361 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,094 |
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 | $83,200 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,274 |
| 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 technical writers in Alaska earn under $83,200 and half over. The published range runs $61,020 at the tenth percentile to $102,120 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Alaska's $67,361, worked from $83,200. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 132 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,225 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 132.
- Figures are distribution medians for technical writers in Alaska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $61,020 to $102,120; 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.
- The Alaska take-home of $67,361, on $83,200 for work ranking 132 of 430 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 132 of 430 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,225, worked from $83,200, 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 132 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 $80,420, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $61,020 and the top tenth $102,120, so most people doing this work in Alaska sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $66,225 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $67,361 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. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $80,420. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($61,020 to $102,120) 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 $66,225 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 $67,361 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.