Alaska vs Washington

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in Alaska is worth

$97,656

at national prices · RPP 102.4BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Washington is worth

$93,458

at national prices · RPP 107.0BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes −$4,198 less far in Washington (−4.3% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

Alaska: $100,000 ÷ (102.4 ÷ 100) = $97,656

Washington: $100,000 ÷ (107.0 ÷ 100) = $93,458

difference: $93,458 − $97,656 = −$4,198

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	Alaska	Washington	Difference
All items	102.4	107.0	+4.5%
Housing rents	93.8	126.0	+34.3%
Goods	106.3	104.4	−1.8%
Utilities	119.0	92.9	−21.9%
Other services	102.2	103.9	+1.7%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

AlaskaMedian rent$1,419/moMedian home$352,900

WashingtonMedian rent$1,760/moMedian home$564,600

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	Alaska	Washington
Income tax (top rate)	None	None
Sales tax (combined avg)	1.82%	9.51%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

Alaska vs Washington: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from Alaska to Washington and its purchasing power changes from $97,656 to $93,458 in national-average terms — a loss of $4,198. Alaska is the cheaper of the two, running at 102.4 on the price index versus 107.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is housing rents: Alaska sits at 93.8 and Washington at 126 (100 = national). Alaska has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $1,419 in Alaska against $1,760 in Washington, and the typical home $352,900 versus $564,600. Alaska is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, Alaska has no wage income tax and a combined sales tax of 1.82%; Washington has no wage income tax and 9.51%. Weigh both against the purchasing-power figure above.

Full profiles: Alaska ·Washington. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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