Protective Service salary guide

Salary Needed for Firefighters in Alaska

Firefighters in Alaska: compare salary needs with estimated annual costs. Basic costs are about $56,721, while a 20% cushion is about $68,065.

Updated with BLS OEWS source metadata from May 2025; cost estimates reflect current WatchPennies county-level data.

Salary adequacy in Alaska

WatchPennies compares firefighter salary context with statewide median county costs for a single adult household. The comfort target adds a 20% cushion for savings, emergencies, and month-to-month variation.

Baseline annual costs

$56,721

About $4,727 per month.

Comfort salary target

$68,065

About $5,672 per month.

OEWS median salary

$58,830

Adequacy versus comfort target: 86%.

The available salary benchmark is $9,235 below the WatchPennies comfort target for Alaska.

Estimated cost mix

View Alaska cost of living
Housing21%
Food9%
Transport25%
Healthcare18%
Other Costs9%
Taxes17%

More Firefighters states

Compare salary-needed targets for this occupation across all states.

Alaska cost of living

See county rankings, housing, food, healthcare, taxes, and transportation costs.

Compare counties

Model a salary and family type across two counties before moving.

Common questions

What salary is needed for firefighters in Alaska?

WatchPennies estimates baseline annual costs around $56,721 for a single adult household in Alaska. A 20% comfort cushion is about $68,065.

Does this page use an official Alaska wage benchmark?

Yes. The occupation wage benchmark on this page is imported from BLS OEWS.

What costs are included in the salary-needed estimate?

The estimate includes housing, food, transportation, healthcare, childcare where applicable, other necessities, taxes, and income context from WatchPennies cost data.

Sources

Wage benchmark fields are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025, last modified 2026-05-15). Cost estimates use WatchPennies county cost data for housing, food, transportation, healthcare, childcare, necessities, taxes, and income context.