Anchorage's next mayor to earn about $183,000, a 26 percent raise

Anchorage's next mayor is getting a raise — to about $183,000 a year, a 26 percent jump from the $145,392 the job has paid since 2021. The Anchorage Salaries and Emoluments Commission approved the new figure Thursday, and it kicks in for whoever wins the April 2027 election, not the current mayor.

The commission arrived at the number by tallying urban Alaska cost-of-living increases from 2020 to 2025 and comparing them against raises the city has given its own unions — police, fire, electrical workers, engineers, plumbers. "We also looked at what all of the bargaining units within the municipality did," said commissioner Karen Norsworthy. For context, Fairbanks pays its mayor $87,800.

There was some hand-wringing about the price tag. "I just keep thinking I have to pay this. I mean, as a taxpayer, I have to pay this. However, this is a significant job," Vice Chair Pat Redmond said. No one testified at the meeting, and three of the commission's five members voted yes.