Occupational profile · 2025
Alaska
Alaska employs 325,570 people. The work it does most unusually is tour and travel guides, at 14.8× the national concentration — 1,660 jobs paying a median of $44,210.
What Alaska is distinctive for
Detailed occupations ranked by location quotient. A location quotient is an occupation’s share of a state’s jobs divided by its share of the nation’s. One means the state looks like the country; two means twice the concentration. It is a measure of distinctiveness, not of quality, size or pay. Bars use a logarithmic scale so the lower ranks stay legible beside the leader.
- 1Tour and Travel Guides1,660 jobs · median $44,21014.8×
- 2Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas1,090 jobs · median $106,48012.0×
- 3Commercial Pilots1,000 jobs · median $100,12010.1×
- 4Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers1,350 jobs · median $232,1406.2×
- 5Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians1,470 jobs · median $91,1505.1×
- 6Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary1,120 jobs · median $77,3104.7×
- 7Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks1,000 jobs · median $45,8704.0×
- 8Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines1,430 jobs · median $82,6703.9×
- 9Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators3,050 jobs · median $77,8103.0×
- 10Medical Records Specialists1,070 jobs · median $61,0902.6×
- 11Civil Engineers1,670 jobs · median $114,7302.2×
- 12Construction Managers1,720 jobs · median $139,1902.2×
What Alaska is made of
All twenty-two occupational groups by headcount, with the concentration figure beside each. Most states look broadly alike in this view — that is the finding, not a flaw in it.
| Occupation group | Share of state employment | Jobs | vs national | Median wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | 39,660 | 1.07× | $52,530 | |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | 30,520 | 1.07× | $50,150 | |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | 27,600 | 0.96× | $35,600 | |
| Management Occupations | 26,530 | 1.14× | $120,240 | |
| Sales and Related Occupations | 22,530 | 0.80× | $39,060 | |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | 21,690 | 1.61× | $75,620 | |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 21,500 | 1.05× | $105,600 | |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | 19,680 | 1.03× | $75,080 | |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | 19,280 | 1.51× | $74,780 | |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | 14,790 | 0.67× | $83,210 | |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | 13,790 | 0.83× | $45,310 | |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | 9,660 | 1.01× | $40,510 | |
| Production Occupations | 9,270 | 0.52× | $54,720 | |
| Protective Service Occupations | 8,510 | 1.08× | $69,100 | |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | 8,470 | 1.24× | $41,390 | |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | 7,410 | 1.33× | $62,960 | |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | 6,930 | 2.25× | $86,380 | |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | 6,490 | 1.18× | $106,340 | |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | 5,500 | 0.50× | $91,700 | |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | 3,200 | 0.75× | $53,790 | |
| Legal Occupations | 2,220 | 0.81× | $106,550 | |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | 340 | 0.37× | $51,480 |
Elsewhere on Alaska
Blank cells are estimates BLS did not release, usually because too few employers reported. They are shown as gaps rather than filled. Detailed occupations are included only where at least 1,000 people are employed, below which a quotient is survey noise. A wage marked “$239,200 or more” is censored at source: BLS does not publish medians above that figure, so the number is a floor rather than the wage. A work of the U.S. government: no copyright subsists (17 U.S.C. §105). BLS OEWS ↗