Overseeing a total annual payroll of $2 billion, it’s Alaska’s healthcare administrators who will be responsible for marshalling technology and human resources with the goal of developing solutions to serve state residents at ever-higher standards of care.
Factors Driving Job Growth for Healthcare Administrators in Alaska
According to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, healthcare administrator jobs in the state are forecast to increase by 8.3 percent over the decade between 2018 and 2028. That’s contributing to the 90 annual openings expected statewide for nurse administrators, patient access services managers, hospital financial officers and others.
Healthcare administrators at all levels operate in a challenging venue in Alaska. Making quality preventative and specialty care available to a widespread and diverse population living in some of the most rugged terrain on earth continues to be Alaska’s biggest challenge. On top of that the state is seeing huge growth in the number of senior citizens, expecting the population over 65 to expand by 125 percent by 2034, according to the Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development.
Salaries for Alaska’s Healthcare Administrators Vary by Experience and Location
Positions for hospital administrators in Alaska also pay above the national median, at $108,740 per year according to 2021 Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The top ten percent in the state, the cream of the crop with the most experience and track records for developing solutions to complex problems in healthcare delivery and patient access, will make more than $202,000 annually.
As far as the Bureau of Labor Statistics is concerned, Alaska is either Anchorage, or everywhere else. But with Juneau and Fairbanks included in the wide swath of land the Bureau classifies as nonmetropolitan area, it pays to look at individual job listings and employers for the kind of salaries and total compensation packages being offered. Looking at quality of life is another famously Alaskan approach to job selection, and there is more to living and working in the communities you want to serve than just the salaries these positions offer.
Anchorage
- 25th percentile: $73,310
- Median: $99,950
- 90th percentile: $193,050
Alaska nonmetropolitan area
- 25th percentile: $87,860
- Median: $114,930
It shouldn’t be surprising that salary offers designed to attract quality job candidates to positions in clinics in outlying areas that serve communities in the Alaskan wilderness are often higher than for jobs in the city. With a median salary of $114,930, the nonmetropolitan area of the state blows away Anchorage. But at the high end, administrators running an urban hospital or medical center will almost always pull ahead, as is seen in the 90th percentile rate for Anchorage.
A full breakdown of salary numbers in all areas of Alaska the US Bureau of Labor Statistics tracked in 2021 can be seen here:
2020 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures for Medical and Health Services Managers.
Job growth projections sourced from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and published in the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Long Term Occupational Projections (2018-2028) database – https://projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm.
Salary figures and job market projections represent state data, not school-specific information.
Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed August 2021.