Average Salary in Alaska (AK)

Alaska has no state income tax and no state sales tax — a combination unique in the United States. What makes it more unusual still is the Permanent Fund Dividend, which pays every Alaska resident who has lived in the state for a full year an annual cash distribution from the state's oil-and-gas trust; that dividend has ranged from roughly $1,000 to $3,200 per person per year over the past decade. The structure funds a substantial share of the state budget and shifts the incentive economics of living here. The $80,287 median household income is above the national average, but the cost-of-living index of 127 erases most of that premium — Anchorage runs about 25% above the national average, and rural Alaska is dramatically higher because of freight costs. The economy concentrates in three sectors: oil and gas on the North Slope, commercial fishing (Alaska produces more than half of all wild-caught US seafood), and the federal government, which is one of the largest employers through the military and through federal land-management agencies. The $11.73/hour minimum wage is indexed to inflation. Property taxes vary widely by borough but run moderate on average. Data and calculators follow.