Prices, pay, taxes, homes and family budgets, county by county, from the same official data the site's calculators use.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures price levels in every state against a national average of 100. Alaska scores 102.4 overall, so a $75,000 salary at average US prices buys what $76,769 buys here. Compare any salary with another state.
| Price level | Alaska (US = 100) | Rank, most expensive first |
|---|---|---|
| Everything | 102.4 | 14th of 51 |
| Rents | 93.8 | 22nd of 51 |
| Goods | 106.3 | — |
| Other services | 102.2 | — |
Home electricity averaged 24.82 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2024, against 17.06 across all states. A gallon of regular gas cost $4.86 at the end of August 2026, against $4.12.
Across all 325,570 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in Alaska, the median pay is $61,000 a year, or $29.33 an hour; that ranks 4th of the 50 states and DC. One worker in ten earns less than $34,930 and one in ten more than $128,720.
Alaska has no state income tax on wages. More on taxes in Alaska. A single filer on the median $61,000, with no retirement or health deductions, takes home about $51,194 a year, or $1,969 every two weeks, after $5,140 of federal income tax, $4,667 of Social Security and Medicare. Work out your own paycheck in Alaska.
The five occupations employing the most people, with their median annual pay:
| Occupation | Jobs | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Retail Salespersons | 7,890 | $37,290 |
| Registered Nurses | 7,510 | $109,480 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 6,770 | $40,310 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 6,530 | $39,740 |
| General and Operations Managers | 6,020 | $116,630 |
Of the 20 largest occupations, the best paid are general and operations managers ($116,630), registered nurses ($109,480), elementary school teachers, except special education ($79,260). See what common jobs pay in every state.
Across the 13 Alaska counties with their own Zillow home value, the median typical home is worth $388,583, and across the 5 with their own rent figure the median typical rent is $1,827 a month. A typical home costs 3.71 years of the county's median family income, at the median county.
With 10% down at 7.03%, the average 30-year rate on September 24, 2026, that home costs about $3,050 a month with tax, insurance and mortgage insurance, which takes $130,724 a year of income under the usual 28% guideline. The median family can afford its own county's typical home in 0.0% of Alaska's counties, against 44.9% of counties nationally. Try it with your own income.
At the median county, home values changed +5.1% over the past year and +12.4% over five years, and rents +4.1% over the past year.
The most expensive Alaska counties are Sitka City and Borough ($487,247), Juneau City and Borough ($483,351) and Anchorage Municipality ($438,094); the least expensive are Southeast Fairbanks Census Area ($291,089), Wrangell City and Borough ($315,369) and Fairbanks North Star Borough ($317,106).
The Economic Policy Institute prices what a modest but adequate standard of living costs in every county: housing, food, transport, healthcare, childcare, other necessities and taxes. In the median Alaska county, that comes to $56,313 a year for one adult and $131,103 for two adults and two children, of which $19,915 is childcare. The national averages are $47,367 and $101,771. Median family income in the median county is $99,954.
| Two adults, two children | Per year, median county | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $16,962 | $1,414 |
| Food | $15,187 | $1,266 |
| Transportation | $19,742 | $1,645 |
| Healthcare | $32,043 | $2,670 |
| Childcare | $19,915 | $1,660 |
| Other necessities | $9,989 | $832 |
| Taxes | $18,631 | $1,553 |
Each line is its own median across counties, so the lines do not add up exactly to the total.
The Department of Education's College Scorecard lists 10 colleges in Alaska, 5 of them public. The median public college reports a cost of attendance of $21,725 a year, covering tuition, housing, books and other expenses. Ten years after enrolling, the median school's former students earn $48,475. Compare degrees and schools.
| Aleutians East Borough | — | — | — | $78,889 | $130,745 |
| Aleutians West Census Area | — | — | — | $126,528 | $139,631 |
| Anchorage Municipality | $438,094 | +5.1% | $1,783 | $119,109 | $135,419 |
| Bethel Census Area | — | — | — | $73,824 | $138,516 |
| Bristol Bay Borough | — | — | — | $113,500 | $133,536 |
| Chugach Census Area | — | — | — | $105,756 | $122,853 |
| Copper River Census Area | — | — | — | $98,704 | $123,130 |
| Denali Borough | — | — | — | $136,406 | $117,418 |
| Dillingham Census Area | — | — | — | $76,125 | $122,284 |
| Fairbanks North Star Borough | $317,106 | +3.7% | $1,827 | $105,862 | $142,596 |
| Haines Borough | $336,222 | +0.8% | — | $101,204 | $143,568 |
| Hoonah-Angoon Census Area | — | — | — | $85,694 | $131,057 |
| Juneau City and Borough | $483,351 | +4.7% | $2,311 | $119,080 | $150,453 |
| Kenai Peninsula Borough | $356,795 | +8.1% | $1,778 | $103,331 | $135,979 |
| Ketchikan Gateway Borough | $409,426 | +7.2% | — | $110,407 | $129,985 |
| Kodiak Island Borough | $411,263 | +3.8% | — | $104,647 | $160,994 |
| Kusilvak Census Area | — | — | — | $49,650 | $114,299 |
| Lake and Peninsula Borough | — | — | — | $66,250 | $111,492 |
| Matanuska-Susitna Borough | $413,373 | +8.8% | $1,993 | $106,547 | $136,771 |
| Nome Census Area | — | — | — | $75,900 | $125,576 |
| North Slope Borough | $319,540 | +6.5% | — | $94,554 | $131,149 |
| Northwest Arctic Borough | — | — | — | $80,350 | $135,230 |
| Petersburg Borough | $388,583 | +19.1% | — | $94,821 | $128,177 |
| Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area | — | — | — | $76,600 | $120,968 |
| Sitka City and Borough | $487,247 | −8.1% | — | $112,953 | $136,476 |
| Skagway Municipality | — | — | — | $126,458 | $134,244 |
| Southeast Fairbanks Census Area | $291,089 | −8.4% | — | $89,118 | $129,558 |
| Wrangell City and Borough | $315,369 | +7.0% | — | $73,800 | $122,085 |
| Yakutat City and Borough | — | — | — | $108,750 | $146,399 |
| Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area | — | — | — | $62,975 | $113,387 |
A dash means the source publishes no figure for that county. Home values and rents are Zillow's own county figures only; counties Zillow does not cover are left blank rather than filled with a state average.
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Cost of living · Income tax · Child care costs
Run the numbersTake-home pay in Alaska · What a salary is worth in Alaska · How much rent you can afford · What a car costs in Alaska
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County figures are medians across Alaska's counties, each counting once, so they describe the spread of places rather than of people. Property tax and insurance vary widely; the calculators let you use your own.