Anchorage, AK

Across all occupations in the Anchorage, AK metropolitan area, the median wage is $60,200 a year ($28.94 an hour) and the mean $75,180, May 2025. That median is +18% against the US median of $50,980 and −1% against Alaska's $61,000. BLS counts 177,050 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is emergency medicine physicians; the largest is registered nurses.

All occupations: Anchorage, AK vs Alaska and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Anchorage, AK area, Alaska and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Anchorage, AK	Hourly	$16.72	$20.48	$28.94	$45.01	$62.09	$36.14	177,050
Anchorage, AK	Annual	$34,770	$42,600	$60,200	$93,620	$129,160	$75,180	177,050
Alaska	Hourly	$16.79	$20.90	$29.33	$44.67	$61.89	$35.92	325,570
Alaska	Annual	$34,930	$43,470	$61,000	$92,910	$128,720	$74,720	325,570
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

423 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Alaska. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Anchorage, AK

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$472,140	$226.99	70
2	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$366,650	$176.27	80
3	Neurologists	$354,760	$170.56	**
4	Physicians, All Other	$353,870	$170.13	170
5	Psychiatrists	$342,170	$164.51	40
6	Family Medicine Physicians	$299,340	$143.91	250
7	Pediatricians, General	$251,830	$121.07	50
8	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	$232,240	*	1,270
9	Dentists, General	$228,030	$109.63	180
10	Petroleum Engineers	$212,240	$102.04	200
11	Chief Executives	$183,110	$88.04	290
12	Industrial Engineers	$171,910	$82.65	110
13	Business Teachers, Postsecondary	$168,440	*	50
14	Optometrists	$167,000	$80.29	30
15	Pharmacists	$162,980	$78.36	360
16	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$161,800	$77.79	590
17	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$161,100	$77.45	110
18	Air Traffic Controllers	$160,970	$77.39	280
19	Nurse Practitioners	$157,430	$75.69	410
20	Lawyers in Alaska	$153,590	$73.84	780

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Anchorage, AK

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Registered Nurses in Alaska	4,990	28.17	1.30	$115,290
2	Retail Salespersons in Alaska	4,710	26.59	1.06	$37,520
3	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Alaska	4,440	25.08	0.91	$39,140
4	Stockers and Order Fillers in Alaska	4,070	23.00	1.26	$40,310
5	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Alaska	3,600	20.34	0.82	$33,280
6	General and Operations Managers in Alaska	3,290	18.58	0.82	$120,030
7	First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers in Alaska	3,070	17.33	1.88	$68,620
8	Cashiers in Alaska	2,890	16.32	0.82	$36,350
9	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Alaska	2,780	15.68	1.10	$40,510
10	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Alaska	2,620	14.81	0.78	$44,510
11	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Alaska	2,560	14.44	1.32	$48,150
12	Waiters and Waitresses in Alaska	2,340	13.19	0.90	$26,080
13	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Alaska	2,300	13.00	1.47	$54,100
14	Office Clerks, General in Alaska	1,920	10.86	0.69	$53,550
15	Construction Laborers in Alaska	1,860	10.49	1.49	$56,160
16	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Alaska	1,720	9.74	1.09	$79,270
17	First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers in Alaska	1,680	9.51	1.32	$57,310
17	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Alaska	1,680	9.48	1.53	$47,080
17	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Alaska	1,680	9.47	0.96	$57,390
20	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Alaska	1,620	9.13	0.69	$66,190

Most concentrated occupations in Anchorage, AK

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Atmospheric and Space Scientists	22.57	260	1.45	$101,640
2	Gambling Service Workers, All Other	12.92	210	1.18	$38,010
3	Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors	11.65	130	0.73	$58,230
4	Commercial Pilots	10.94	590	3.35	$99,920
5	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	10.80	1,270	7.20	$232,240
6	Air Traffic Controllers	10.73	280	1.55	$160,970
7	Tour and Travel Guides	10.19	620	3.50	$44,400
8	Petroleum Engineers	9.93	200	1.15	$212,240
9	Motorcycle Mechanics	9.26	140	0.81	$43,680
10	Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists	8.94	180	1.04	$85,130

Occupation groups in Anchorage, AK

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$124,600	$137,280	13,840	78.17	1.09
Legal	$108,470	$132,530	1,490	8.42	1.00
Architecture and Engineering	$106,640	$116,970	3,950	22.30	1.32
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$104,640	$128,010	13,470	76.06	1.20
Computer and Mathematical	$94,990	$95,780	3,340	18.88	0.56
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$90,530	$95,530	3,160	17.82	1.88
Business and Financial Operations	$82,780	$90,110	8,970	50.67	0.75
Educational Instruction and Library	$78,400	$70,870	8,550	48.31	0.83
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$73,930	$74,790	9,260	52.28	1.34
Construction and Extraction	$73,860	$77,580	9,920	56.06	1.36
Protective Service	$71,280	$73,860	4,110	23.21	0.96
Community and Social Service	$64,150	$69,790	4,060	22.94	1.34
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$53,790	$63,290	1,770	10.02	0.76
Production	$51,580	$60,170	3,240	18.29	0.33
Office and Administrative Support	$51,330	$55,320	21,740	122.78	1.08
Transportation and Material Moving	$49,240	$71,100	17,980	101.58	1.15
Healthcare Support	$44,550	$49,310	9,160	51.72	1.02
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$40,510	$43,370	5,160	29.15	1.00
Sales and Related	$39,680	$51,000	13,110	74.07	0.86
Personal Care and Service	$38,040	$43,120	4,430	25.04	1.20
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$38,010	$45,570	150	0.84	0.30
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$35,490	$37,740	16,180	91.40	1.04

Every occupation in Alaska, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 423 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Anchorage, AK estimates (area 11260).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Anchorage, AK area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.