Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists in Alaska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,405
after federal, FICA and Alaska tax
Tax takes
$17,965
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,184
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
$90,370
Kept after tax
$72,405
Worth in national money
$71,184
State rank
4
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Alaska is one of the better-paying states for zoologists and wildlife biologists. The middle earner takes $90,370, which ranks 4 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 17.7% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Zoologists and wildlife biologists ranks 110 among 430 occupations Alaska publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Alaska costs about what the country costs, so from $90,370, take-home of $72,405 is worth roughly $71,184 in national money. The average comes to $91,560, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Alaska ranks 4 of 47 states publishing a median for zoologists and wildlife biologists, at $90,370 — about 17.7% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 110 of 430 in Alaska places zoologists and wildlife biologists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Alaska is near the national base, so for zoologists and wildlife biologists, whose median is $90,370, the adjusted figure of $71,184 differs little from $72,405 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $91,560 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $90,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,920 |
| This salary | $90,370 |
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 | $72,405 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $72,405 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,326 |
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 | $90,370 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,594 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 102 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $90,370 as a midpoint for Alaska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $59,280 and the ninetieth is $126,920 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $72,405 take-home in Alaska comes from $90,370. 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 110 of 430.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $71,184 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 110.
- The Alaska median of $90,370 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $59,280 to $126,920. 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 $72,405, from $90,370, 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 110 of 430 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $71,184, worked from $90,370, 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 110 of 430 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $59,280 and the top tenth $126,920 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $71,184 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $72,405 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($59,280) and the ninetieth ($126,920) 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 $71,184 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 $72,405 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.