# Salary Data Methodology — Alaska Jobs

[← The Board](https://alaskajobs.org/) · [Salaries](https://alaskajobs.org/salaries)

# How the salary data is built

Written so every number on the salary pages can be traced to a source and a rule. Questions the data can't answer honestly, we don't answer.

## Sources

- Posted salaries — every job listing Alaska Jobs syncs (currently 1096 postings with parseable pay, open and archived) from Workplace Alaska, the municipal and borough job boards listed on the [sources page](https://alaskajobs.org/sources) , the Foraker Group nonprofit board, and USAJOBS. The board never deletes a listing, so the dataset accumulates daily.
- The state salary schedule — the ASEA General Government (GG/GP), Class 1, 37.5-hour week, parsed directly from the [Department of Administration's published schedule](https://doa.alaska.gov/dof/payroll/sal_sched/0726gpw.pdf) , effective 2026-07-01. We cross-validate the parse against live postings that state their range (e.g., Range 11 Step A = $23.01/hr matches postings exactly).
- Geographic differentials — the duty-station table from the [GGU 2025–2028 collective bargaining agreement](https://law.alaska.gov/pdf/labor-relations/contracts/GGU2025-2028.pdf) , which implements AS 39.27.020.

## Annualization

Postings quote pay hourly, biweekly, monthly, or annually. For comparison we annualize: hourly × 2,080 · biweekly × 26 · monthly × 12. When a posting gives a range, we use its midpoint for medians and keep the endpoints for the observed span. Figures outside $12,000–$500,000/yr after annualization are treated as parse failures and excluded.

## Title normalization

"Office Assistant II (PCN 06-1234) — Anchorage" and "Office Assistant 2" are the same role. We strip PCNs, locations, level numerals, and posting boilerplate, then group what remains. A role page publishes only at three or more parseable observations — below that, a median is noise and we'd rather show nothing.

## Known limitations

- Posted ≠ paid. These are the ranges employers advertise, not settled offers or payroll data.
- Hiring-range bias. State postings usually quote the early steps; long-tenured employees earn above the posted figure.
- Mixed employers. Municipal, nonprofit, and federal postings don't follow the state schedule; role pages note when postings cite a state range.
- Small samples. Alaska is small; a three-posting median is a starting point, not gospel. Every page shows its N.

## Update cadence

Observations update with the morning sync. Per-role medians snapshot weekly, building the trend series shown on role pages. The state schedule is re-parsed when the state publishes a new one (annually, ~July 1).

Corrections welcome — this data is published to be checked. [Contact](https://alaskajobs.org/about) .

---
Markdown mirror of https://alaskajobs.org/salaries/methodology · full index: https://alaskajobs.org/llms.txt