Alaska Paycheck Calculator

What Alaska takes from a paycheck

Alaska charges no personal income tax. It repealed the one it had in 1980, on the back of Prudhoe Bay oil revenue, and no state has repealed an income tax since. There is no state return to file, no state withholding, and no local income tax anywhere in the state.

But an Alaskan payslip is not the same as a Florida or Texas one, and this is the part almost every calculator gets wrong.

Alaska takes an employee share of unemployment insurance — 0.5% of wages up to $54,200 for 2026, a maximum of $271.00 for the year. Only two other states do this at all.

On a $75,000 salary that is $271, and it is the entire difference between Alaska and the states that take nothing at all. Small, but real, and it appears on every payslip.

One of three states that bill you for unemployment

In 47 states unemployment insurance is purely an employer tax. The employer pays it, it never touches your wages, and it is invisible on your payslip. Three states split it — Alaska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — and at an ordinary wage Alaska’s share is the largest:

Alaska is also the only one of the nine states with no income tax that withholds any of it.

The Department of Labor and Workforce Development publishes both halves each year. For 2026:

It went up for 2026. The rate held at 0.50%, but the wage base rose 4.8%, so anyone earning above the cap pays $12.50 more than in 2025.

Two details are worth knowing. First, the rate is not fixed — it was 0.56% in 2022 and 0.51% in 2023 before settling back to 0.50%. It is recalculated annually, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.

Second, the cap is low. At $54,200 of wages you have paid the maximum, and every dollar above that is free of it. Someone on $54,200 and someone on $250,000 pay exactly the same $271 — which makes it, in effect, a small flat charge on anyone with a full-time job rather than a percentage of income.

The employer’s own rate is separate and much larger — a standard rate of 1.50% for 2026 — but that is not withheld from wages and does not appear in the figures here.

How Alaska compares with the other eight

Nine states charge no personal income tax, and they are routinely treated as interchangeable. On take-home pay they are not, because some of them levy payroll charges instead.

On a $75,000 salary, filing single, after federal tax and FICA:

Alaska sits between the two groups. It costs $271 a year more than Texas and $769 a year less than Washington, which funds paid family leave and long-term care insurance from wages.

The comparison stops there, though, and the reason matters. Alaska has no statewide sales tax, but many boroughs and cities levy their own — Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Sitka and Wasilla among them, while Anchorage and Fairbanks do not. Whether Alaska is cheaper than Texas for you depends on which Alaskan community you live in, and no take-home figure can answer that.

Take-home pay at every salary in Alaska

After federal tax, FICA and the 0.5% employee unemployment insurance contribution, with the $54,200 cap applied. With no state or local income tax anywhere in Alaska, these figures hold in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Wasilla and Sitka alike.

What lands in your account each payday

On $75,000 a year in Alaska, filing single, split across the pay schedules employers actually use.

The Permanent Fund Dividend

Alaska is the only state that pays its residents an annual share of resource revenue. The Permanent Fund Dividend goes to every eligible Alaskan — adults and children alike — and is normally paid in October.

The 2025 dividend was $1,000 per person. Amounts vary sharply year to year with the fund’s earnings and the legislature’s appropriation, and the 2026 figure is not announced until the autumn.

Three things about it are worth being precise on, because it is often described loosely:

• It is income, not a tax reduction. It does not offset anything on your payslip and it does not appear anywhere in the figures on this page.
• It is federally taxable. The dividend is reported to you on a 1099-MISC and goes on your federal return. Alaska takes nothing from it, because Alaska taxes no income at all.
• It is paid per person. A family of four receives four dividends, which for 2025 was $4,000 — and owes federal tax on all of it.

For a household, that can be worth considerably more than the $271 of unemployment insurance withheld from a single earner’s wages. But it is not guaranteed, it is not part of your pay, and it is not something an employment offer can promise you.

Dates that matter for the 2026 tax year

There is no Alaska income tax return. Nothing is due to the state, at any point in the year, and no extension is ever needed.

Your federal return is still due April 15, 2027 for the 2026 tax year, and if you receive a Permanent Fund Dividend it belongs on it.

The unemployment insurance contribution is deducted at source by your employer and settled by them quarterly — you never file anything for it. The rate and wage base above are the ones the Department of Labor and Workforce Development published for calendar year 2026.

Questions people ask

Does Alaska have a state income tax?

No. Alaska repealed its personal income tax in 1980, funded by Prudhoe Bay oil revenue, and has not had one since. There is no state return to file and no state withholding on your wages.

What is deducted from an Alaska paycheck?

Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare — and one state item that only two other states share: an employee share of unemployment insurance at 0.5% of wages up to $54,200 for 2026, a maximum of $271.00 for the year.

Why do Alaskan employees pay unemployment insurance?

Because Alaska is one of only three states that split the cost, with New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In the other 47 it is funded entirely by employers. Alaska's employee share is set annually by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, alongside the employer rate, and at $271 it is the largest of the three at a normal wage.

Did the Alaska unemployment deduction change for 2026?

Yes, upward. The rate stayed at 0.50% but the taxable wage base rose from $51,700 to $54,200, so the maximum contribution went from $258.50 to $271.00 — an increase of $12.50 for anyone earning above the cap.

Does Alaska have a sales tax?

Not at state level, but many boroughs and cities levy their own — Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Sitka and Wasilla among them, while Anchorage and Fairbanks do not. Rates commonly run to around 5% or more, and no take-home figure can show that.

Is the Permanent Fund Dividend taxed?

Not by Alaska, which taxes no income at all, but yes by the federal government. The dividend is reported on a 1099-MISC and is federally taxable. The 2025 dividend was $1,000 per eligible Alaskan.

Does any Alaska city charge a local income tax?

No. No Alaskan borough or city levies an income tax. Local revenue comes from property and sales taxes instead, which is why the figures on this page hold statewide.

Is my data sent anywhere?

No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. There is no account, and the salary you type is never sent to a server or stored. It never leaves your device.