Alaskans earn more than US peers in most occupations.

• Author: Miller, Amy
• Position: ALASKA TRENDS

Most Alaskans know, or have heard, that household income, a major social and economic indicator tracked by the US Census Bureau, is higher in Alaska than it is in the rest of the United States. From 2008 to 2012, the median household income for Alaska was $69,917 compared to $53,046 for the United States as a whole, according to the US Census Bureau USA QuickFacts. How do wages in Alaska stack up compared to those in the same industry elsewhere in the United States? For workers in some occupations, Alaska is a much better place to work. In other fields, average wages are higher in the Lower 48.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics program compiles detailed occupational data for approximately eight hundred occupations, comparing mean annual wage, mean hourly wage, and median hourly wage, among other statistics. The data are compiled based on surveys of employers in all industries in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas in all states and the District of Columbia. Overall, Alaskans compare favorably in terms of wages earned, with all occupations reporting a 12 percent advantage over the United States as a whole, but specific fields were particularly lucrative for Alaska workers. For example, Alaskans in the farming, fishing, and forestry occupational class...