Employment in Anchorage Municipality, Alaska’s only large county equivalent, increased by 1.4 percent from March 2024 to March 2025, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Chris Rosenlund, Regional Commissioner for the BLS, stated that Anchorage ranked 48th in employment growth among the 364 largest U.S. counties with published data.
Anchorage reported an employment figure of 146,900 in March 2025, representing 45.4 percent of all jobs in Alaska. The BLS defines large counties and county equivalents as those with annual average employment levels of at least 75,000 in 2024. Across the country, the largest counties make up about 73.4 percent of total covered employment.
The average weekly wage in Anchorage rose by 4.7 percent over the year to $1,502. This wage level placed Anchorage at 107th nationally for average weekly wages and at 71st for percentage change among large U.S. counties. The national average weekly wage was $1,589, which reflected a yearly increase of 4.1 percent.
Data on employment and wages are also available for Alaska’s smaller county equivalents—those with fewer than 75,000 employees—which include boroughs, census areas, and one municipality. Most of these smaller areas reported lower-than-average wages compared to the national figure; North Slope Borough had the highest average weekly wage at $2,868 while Lake and Peninsula Borough had the lowest at $815.
Of all thirty Alaska counties measured, seven reported average weekly wages below $1,100; ten were between $1,100 and $1,299; six ranged from $1,300 to $1,499; and seven posted averages above $1,500.
Additional details can be found through resources such as the County Employment and Wages news release and related technical notes provided by the BLS’s Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website.
“The County Employment and Wages release for the second quarter 2025 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.”
Information from this release can be made accessible upon request via voice phone or Telecommunications Relay Service.
