What is the real (cost-adjusted) MA salary in Alaska?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 103.3 for Alaska), the real-wage equivalent is $50,205 — what the $51,860 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $46,700 to $57,223.

How are Alaska MA 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.

How many MAs does Alaska employ?

BLS OES counts 2,420 MAs 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 MA 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 MAs?

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.

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.

Is the medical assistant role still a viable RN-bridge path in Alaska?

MA → RN remains a common pathway in Alaska. The financial logic: an MA earning at the Alaska BLS median while completing an associate-degree RN program (typically 2 years post-prerequisites, $5K-$25K tuition at community college) sees an average BLS-reported wage roughly 2-2.5× higher post-licensure. BSN-direct programs ($40K-$120K) extend payback timeline but open hospital and management tracks. Many Alaska health systems offer tuition support or ladder programs that effectively eliminate program cost — making the MA-to-RN economic transition substantially more favorable than the headline tuition implies.

How Much Do Medical Assistants Make in Alaska? $52K (2026 BLS + BEA)

TL;DR

Headline MA pay in Alaska is $51,860. Real take-home, after the state's cost-of-living index, lands at $50,205.
MA ranking: #2 on the BLS table, #5 once cost of living is in.
BEA RPP near 100 means nominal pay translates almost 1:1 into real take-home.
P25-P75 spread runs $48,240 to $59,110; P10 floor $43,680, P90 ceiling $66,820.

Wage breakdown — Alaska

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$43,680	$42,286
P25 (lower quartile)	$48,240	$46,700
P50 (median)	$51,860	$50,205
P75 (upper quartile)	$59,110	$57,223
P90 (top tier)	$66,820	$64,687
Mean	$57,630	$55,791
Employment	2,420 MAs 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 (MA)	$51,860	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$4,085	7.9% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	$0	no state income tax
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$3,967	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$43,808	84.5% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$42,409	÷ (103.3 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Alaska state-tax burden means for MA take-home

Alaska levies no state income tax on wages, which is worth roughly $2,593 a year for a MA at the BLS median compared with the national-average state burden (≈5%). After cost of living, real take-home is $42,409 — 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 $44,200 for MAs with mean pay of $44,720 and total employment of 793,460. Alaska sits at #2 on nominal pay and #5 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Alaska falls 3 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

What is the real (cost-adjusted) MA salary in Alaska?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 103.3 for Alaska), the real-wage equivalent is $50,205 — what the $51,860 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $46,700 to $57,223.
How are Alaska MA 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.
How many MAs does Alaska employ?: BLS OES counts 2,420 MAs 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 MA 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 MAs?: 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.
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.
Is the medical assistant role still a viable RN-bridge path in Alaska?: MA → RN remains a common pathway in Alaska. The financial logic: an MA earning at the Alaska BLS median while completing an associate-degree RN program (typically 2 years post-prerequisites, $5K-$25K tuition at community college) sees an average BLS-reported wage roughly 2-2.5× higher post-licensure. BSN-direct programs ($40K-$120K) extend payback timeline but open hospital and management tracks. Many Alaska health systems offer tuition support or ladder programs that effectively eliminate program cost — making the MA-to-RN economic transition substantially more favorable than the headline tuition implies.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 31-9092, 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 2026-05-07.

Cross-comparison: see how Alaska MA 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.