Alaska by the numbers
In Alaska, the median worker earns $59,400 a year, the typical home is worth $333,300 and carries $3,785 of property tax, and the average household pays $157 a month for electricity at 28.23¢ per kilowatt-hour.
West Isolated intertie systems Regulated monopoly
Energy
Alaska is not one electrical system but many. The Railbelt, covering Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula and Fairbanks, is a single interconnected system running mainly on Cook Inlet natural gas and some hydro. Everywhere else is a village grid, typically diesel-fired, with fuel barged or flown in.
The Railbelt's central problem is that Cook Inlet gas production has been declining, and the region is planning for imported LNG to replace it. Importing gas into a place that has produced its own for decades is a large cost increase, and it is the main driver of the state's recent rate movement.
Rural Alaska pays far more than the state average, often several times the national rate before subsidy, because diesel generation at village scale with air-freighted fuel is simply expensive. The state's Power Cost Equalization programme subsidises residential rates in those communities.
Averaged across the twelve months to May 2026, Alaska households used 588 kilowatt-hours a month and paid $157. At the state median wage that is about 5.5 hours of work a month to keep the lights on. For heating, gas is still cheaper to run than a heat pump here, by about $15.01 per million BTU.
Work and pay
The median Alaska worker earned $59,400 in 2024, 20% above the national median. What distinguishes a state's labour market is rarely its biggest occupations, which are retail and food service everywhere, but what it has disproportionately.
| Occupation | Concentration | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Gambling Service Workers, All Other | 29.43× | $36,650 |
| Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists | 19.48× | $84,640 |
| Commercial Pilots | 17.36× | $110,930 |
| Tour and Travel Guides | 16.13× | $45,000 |
| Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas | 14.09× | $98,930 |
Property tax
The median Alaska homeowner pays $3,785 a year on a home worth $333,300, an effective rate of 1.14% against a national 0.98%. Nobody sets that rate. It is what falls out of county, city, school district and special district levies applied to an assessed value, so the state figure is a weighted average of 18 counties rather than a posted number.
Cost of living
Prices in Alaska run at 102.4 where the national average is 100, ranking it #14 of 51. Goods sit at 106.3, which is close to national almost everywhere because most goods are shipped and priced nationally. Rents sit at 93.8, and that is where states actually separate from one another. A median wage of $59,400 therefore buys what $58,008 buys nationally.
Metro areas priced separately: Anchorage (105.4) , Fairbanks-College (103.2) .
Housing
House prices in Alaska rose 8.3% over the year to 2026 Q2, against a median across all states of +2.7%. Over ten years the index is +64.4%. Prices are at or near their record level.
Who supplies the power
10 utilities report residential service in Alaska, together serving 273,042 customers. Regulated monopoly.
Alaska: common questions
What does it cost to live in Alaska?
Prices overall run at 102.4 against a national average of 100, with rents at 93.8. The typical home is worth $333,300 and carries $3,785 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.14% against a national 0.98%. Electricity averages $157 a month at 28.23¢ per kilowatt-hour. Against that, the median wage is $59,400.
What is the property tax rate in Alaska?
The effective rate is 1.14% of home value, from a median bill of $3,785. It is set locally rather than by the state, so the figure is a weighted outcome across 18 counties. County by county rates.
Does a salary go further in Alaska?
The median wage of $59,400 buys what $58,008 buys nationally, once local prices are taken out. A state paying above the national median while charging above it for housing can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows which side of that line Alaska falls on.
Is Alaska expensive for electricity?
It ranks #7 of 51 jurisdictions on price at 28.23¢ per kilowatt-hour, +53.1% against the U.S. average. On the actual bill it ranks 24 of 51, because households there use 588 kWh a month against a national 871.
What is the median salary in Alaska?
$59,400 across all occupations, about $28.56 an hour, covering 321,040 wage and salary workers as of 2024.
Who supplies electricity in Alaska?
10 utilities report residential service, the largest being Chugach Electric Assn Inc with 97,048 customers. Regulated monopoly.
Electricity May 2026, gas 2024, utilities 2024, wages 2024. All figures from federal statistical agencies. Methodology · Sources