Retail pay in Alaska after taxes: what you keep (2026)

The median retail associate in Alaska earned $36,940 a year in May 2024, which is $18 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 7,790 retail associates the BLS counts in Alaska earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $32,030 and $42,670. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on Alaska's tax, and Alaska has no state income tax on wages.

What the median retail associate keeps in Alaska

For a single filer on the median $36,940, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

Alaska takes nothing from wages, so the only deductions are federal. That is worth $1,847 a year against a state with a flat 5% tax on the same salary. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.

Where Alaska ranks for retail associate pay

Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks 5 of 50 on the gross median for retail associates, in the top ten. The highest-paying state is Washington at $38,350 and the lowest is Mississippi at $27,810. Gross rank is not take-home rank: a state with no income tax climbs several places once the state line is applied, and a high-tax state drops.

Where the retail associate jobs are in Alaska

The BLS count of 7,790 retail associates is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($42,670 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the Alaska openings page; those filings are the ones already paying to bring people in, and housing or transport is often part of the offer.

Alaska also has a program that pay people to move in: Permanent Fund Dividend (roughly $1,000 to $1,700 a year, for every resident after a full calendar year in the state; not a relocation grant, but paid every year). Each has a residence condition and a funding round; the amount is the program's own "up to" figure.

What people get wrong about retail associate pay in Alaska

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Alaska is $19 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($18) is what the typical retail associate makes.
• Comparing gross across states. Alaska's zero state tax means its gross understates it against taxed states.
• Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $34,940 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $39,940 without it.
• Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Anchorage pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.

Everything about Alaska, on one page

The Alaska page has the licence registries and boards, the state tax at three salaries, the programs that pay you to come, and the openings filed in Alaska this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Alaska employers hiring from out of state.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 state estimates for Retail. Tax lines are a single filer with the standard deduction, 2024 federal brackets, and the state rate in lib/us-states.ts; progressive states are approximated. Not tax advice.