Alaska SUTA Tax Calculator
Figure basis: Official Alaska Department of Labor, Employment Security TaxState Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) tax is the state unemployment insurance tax that employers pay to fund unemployment benefits in Alaska. This calculator estimates your Alaska SUTA liability for the 2026 tax year. Enter the average annual wages per employee, your number of employees, and your assigned SUTA rate to see the taxable wages, tax per employee, and total tax. SUTA is charged only on the first $54,200 of each employee's wages (the 2026 Alaska taxable wage base); wages above that per employee are not taxed. Your rate is set by the state based on your business's unemployment claim history (your "experience rating"); new employers are assigned the industry-average rate. SUTA is separate from the federal FUTA tax and, in most states, is paid entirely by the employer and never deducted from employee wages. All wage-base and rate figures are sourced from Alaska Department of Labor, Employment Security Tax and verified for 2026. Replace the default rate with the rate on your state tax-rate notice for an exact figure.
In Alaska, employers pay SUTA on the first $54,200 of each employee's wages for 2026, and new employers are assigned the industry-average rate. For 5 employees earning $50,000 each at 3%, the estimated annual SUTA tax is $7,500.00 ($1,500.00 per employee).
How Alaska SUTA tax works
Alaska charges state unemployment tax on each employee's wages up to the taxable wage base of $54,200 for 2026. Once an employee has earned that much in the year, no further SUTA is due on that employee. Your rate is assigned by the state from your experience rating; new employers are assigned the industry-average rate.
taxable wages per employee = min(annual wages, $54,200)
SUTA tax per employee = taxable wages per employee x rate / 100
total SUTA tax = SUTA tax per employee x number of employees
Worked example: 5 employees each earning $50,000 in Alaska at 3%. Each employee's taxable wages are capped at $54,200, so the tax per employee is $1,500.00 and the total is $7,500.00.
Alaska SUTA figures (2026)
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable wage base | $54,200 | Alaska Department of Labor, Employment Security Tax |
| New employer rate | Industry average | Alaska Department of Labor, Employment Security Tax |
The experience-rate range shown is the base statutory range. Most states add mandatory assessments on top (for example a fund-building, solvency, or administrative surcharge), so an employer's effective rate can be higher than the range shown, and the new-employer rate may exclude those add-ons. Your exact assigned rate is on your annual state tax-rate notice.
Editor's insight: why Alaska's SUTA is a two-sided tax
Alaska is unusual among the states: it is one of only a few, along with New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where employees as well as employers pay into the unemployment system. So the number this tool returns is the employer share only; a separate, smaller employee contribution is withheld from each worker's paycheck under Alaska law. That split makes Alaska SUTA behave differently from most states, where the tax is entirely an employer cost.
The second thing that sets Alaska apart is the size of the taxable wage base: $54,200 for 2026, among the highest in the country. Alaska re-indexes the base every year to a share of the statewide average annual wage, so it climbs almost every year rather than sitting on a fixed statutory figure like the $7,000 federal floor that states such as California and Arkansas still use. A larger base means a bigger dollar swing for every point of rate.
New employers are not handed one flat percentage. Alaska assigns the average rate for your industry, so a construction or seafood-processing startup can open at a very different rate than an office employer down the street. Enter the rate from your Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development notice for an exact figure, and remember that on a $54,200 base even a small rate difference adds up quickly across a payroll.
Alaska SUTA tax: frequently asked questions
What is the Alaska unemployment (SUTA) taxable wage base for 2026?
For 2026, Alaska employers pay state unemployment tax on the first $54,200 of each employee's wages. Wages above $54,200 per employee are not subject to SUTA.
What is the Alaska new employer SUTA rate?
Alaska assigns new employers the average rate for their industry rather than a single fixed rate, so your rate depends on your industry classification. Enter your assigned rate above to see your tax.
How is Alaska SUTA tax calculated?
Multiply each employee's wages, capped at the $54,200 taxable wage base, by your assigned experience rate, then add up across employees. SUTA is primarily an employer-paid tax, but Alaska also collects a separate employee unemployment contribution withheld from worker pay; this calculator covers the employer portion only.
Is the Alaska SUTA rate the same for every employer?
No. After the new-employer period, Alaska assigns each employer an experience rate based on its history of layoffs and claims. The rate field above defaults to the new-employer rate; replace it with the rate on your state tax notice for an exact figure.
Official sources
- Alaska unemployment taxable wage base and rates (tax year 2026): Alaska Department of Labor, Employment Security Tax, as at Jul 15, 2026.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 15 July 2026. See our methodology. General information, not tax or legal advice.