Resident and Nonresident Workers
Resident and Nonresident Wages
Nonresident Workers by Industry
Nonresident Workers by place of work
Report highlights Nonresidents Working in Alaska 2010

- The nonresident hire rate increased in 2010. The nonresident hire rate in 2010 was 19.6 percent, up from 19.1 percent in 2009.

- The numbers of resident and nonresident workers rose from 2009. The number of nonresident workers employed in Alaska in 2010 increased by 2,992, or 3.9 percent, to 79,856. The number of resident workers rose by 2,859, or 0.9 percent, to 328,611. The total workforce increased 1.5 percent, to 408,467.

- Both resident and nonresident worker counts were at a record high in 2010. Growth in resident and nonresident worker counts in 2010 exceeded worker declines in 2009, the first year since 1997 that the total number of workers fell from the prior year.

- The percentage of wages earned by nonresidents increased in 2010. Total private sector and state and local government wages totaled $14.1 billion in 2010. Nonresidents earned 13.6 percent of total wages in 2010, up from 2009’s 13.3 percent.

- Growth in total nonresident earnings outpaced that of residents. Resident earnings increased 2.8 percent to $12.1 billion in 2010, while nonresident earnings increased 5.4 percent to $1.9 billion.

- Average resident earnings increased more than average nonresident earnings. Resident workers in Alaska typically have higher average annual earnings than nonresidents, and 2010 was no exception. Average annual resident earnings increased 1.9 percent in 2010 to $36,955, while average annual nonresident earnings increased 1.5 percent to $23,958.

- The seafood processing industry employed the greatest number of nonresident workers. There were 16,222 nonresident workers in the seafood processing industry, compared to 5,428 residents. In 2010, 20.3 percent of all nonresident workers in Alaska worked in the seafood processing industry, down slightly from 2009. Nonresidents working in the seafood processing industry earned 10.7 percent of all nonresident wages.

- The numbers of both resident and nonresident workers increased in the oil industry. The number of residents in the oil industry increased 0.2 percent, while the number of nonresident workers increased 12.8 percent. Earnings for both resident and nonresident workers in the oil industry also increased.

- The nonresident hire rate in the oil industry increased in 2010. Nonresidents were 30.6 percent of oil industry workers (including major oil companies and oilfield services) in 2010, up from 28.1 percent in 2009. The oil industry employed 6.5 percent of total nonresident workers, but paid 24.4 percent of total nonresident earnings.

- In the construction industry, both resident and nonresident worker counts fell. The number of nonresident workers employed in the construction industry during 2010 fell 1.5 percent, and the number of resident workers fell 2.1 percent. The number of workers in the construction industry has fallen in each of the past five years.