How are Alaska Data Scientist salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

What does the top of the Data Scientist pay scale look like in Alaska?

The 90th percentile lands at $135,160. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $116,470.

How many Data Scientists does Alaska employ?

BLS OES counts 210 Data Scientists employed in Alaska in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

Where does Alaska rank for Data Scientist pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Alaska ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

Is Alaska a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Data Scientists?

No — Alaska's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.

What are the limits of these Data Scientist salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

2026 Data Scientist Salary — Alaska ($77K BLS, RPP-Adjusted Real Wage)

TL;DR

BLS reports Alaska Data Scientist median pay at $77,400. Adjusted for state cost of living, real purchasing power equals $74,930.
Mid-band cost of living: real and nominal wage are within a few percent of each other.
Bottom quartile $56,020, top quartile $116,470. The P90 ($135,160) is roughly 2.8× the P10 ($47,670).
Nominal: #48/51 · Real: #50/51 — ranking shifts by 2 positions after RPP.

Wage breakdown — Alaska

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$47,670	$46,148
P25 (lower quartile)	$56,020	$54,232
P50 (median)	$77,400	$74,930
P75 (upper quartile)	$116,470	$112,753
P90 (top tier)	$135,160	$130,846
Mean	$88,690	$85,859
Employment	210 Data Scientists in Alaska

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Alaska index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	103.3
Goods	103.7
Services	113.3
Rents	96.7

Alaska's overall RPP (103.3) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Alaska (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Data Scientist)	$77,400	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$8,275	10.7% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	$0	no state income tax
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$5,921	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$63,204	81.7% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$61,187	÷ (103.3 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Alaska state-tax burden means for Data Scientist take-home

Alaska levies no state income tax on wages, which is worth roughly $3,870 a year for a Data Scientist at the BLS median compared with the national-average state burden (≈5%). After cost of living, real take-home is $61,187 — lower than the nominal after-tax figure because RPP exceeds 100.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $112,590 for Data Scientists with mean pay of $124,590 and total employment of 233,440. Alaska sits at #48 on nominal pay and #50 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Alaska falls 2 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

How are Alaska Data Scientist salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
What does the top of the Data Scientist pay scale look like in Alaska?: The 90th percentile lands at $135,160. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $116,470.
How many Data Scientists does Alaska employ?: BLS OES counts 210 Data Scientists employed in Alaska in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
Where does Alaska rank for Data Scientist pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Alaska ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
Is Alaska a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Data Scientists?: No — Alaska's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.
What are the limits of these Data Scientist salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 15-2051, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Alaska Data Scientist pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.