Alaska Grocery Budget Calculator
$1,756/mo for 4 in Alaska on the USDA Moderate-Cost plan ($4.81 per person per meal). No state sales tax; your borough or city may tax groceries.
At Alaska grocery prices, USDA's Moderate-Cost food plan for a family of four costs about $1,756 a month — about $405 a week, or $4.81 per person per meal. Alaska has no state sales tax at all (Alaska Statutes AS 29.45.650 and 29.45.700), but your borough or city may add its own: enter that rate in the calculator, which starts at 0% and so shows $0 of tax on that basket until you do. $21,068 a year is 22.02% of Alaska's $95,665 median household income. Official vs modeled: USDA publishes an official Anchorage reference-family Thrifty cost, and this page uses the ratio of that official figure to the official national Thrifty figure (1.2647x) instead of a price index. USDA does not separately publish Low-Cost, Moderate, or Liberal figures for Anchorage, so those three tiers hold the national tier-to-Thrifty spacing — disclosed, never presented as independently published.
Estimate only — these are not official figures
USDA's August 2026 national plan figures × the official Anchorage Thrifty ratio (1.2647); USDA publishes only the Thrifty tier there, so the other three tiers are extrapolated
Do not rely on these amounts for budgeting or payment. For exact amounts, check the USDA Cost of Food at Home reports for the national plan figures.
Enter Your Details
Adjust values to see instant results
Additional Details
Pre-filled: C2ER Cost of Living Index, Grocery component (via MERIC)
Monthly Grocery Budget
Estimated • Based on your inputs
Total Monthly Food Cost
$1,695.01
Food as % of Alaska's Median Income
21.26%
Detailed Breakdown
Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only. Results should not be considered financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for your specific situation.
How This Calculator Works
Calculation methodology and assumptions
Alaska inputs: Alaska is different: USDA separately publishes an OFFICIAL Anchorage reference-family Thrifty cost ($1023.70 national vs. $1294.70 Anchorage, August 2026) rather than a modeled index. Since USDA does not separately publish Low-Cost/Moderate/Liberal figures for Anchorage, this calculator scales all four tiers by the ratio between those two official Thrifty figures (~1.2647×) and does NOT apply Alaska's cost-of-living index on top of it, avoiding double-counting. USDA also discloses that rural Alaska Thrifty Food Plan costs run 28.52% (Rural I) to 56.42% (Rural II) higher than Anchorage — this calculator uses the Anchorage figure only.. A family of 4 in Alaska: Thrifty ~$1,295, Low-Cost ~$1,424, Moderate ~$1,756, Liberal ~$2,123 a month. Alaska has no state sales tax at all, but your borough or city may add its own (Alaska Statutes AS 29.45.650 and 29.45.700). State grocery tax used here: 0%; add your borough or city rate in the calculator's local-rate box, which starts at 0%. Food as a share of income divides by Alaska's $95,665 median household income, and restaurant meals default to $22. Those are modeled figures; the USDA method every state shares is explained on the grocery budget hub.
Key State Information
Alaska food cost context: grocery price index 125.1 (above the U.S. 100) | cost of living index 124.5 | State grocery tax rate: 0% (your local rate is not included) | median household income $95,665.
Example Calculation
Let's build a realistic grocery budget for a family in Alaska.
Alaska uses USDA's own official Anchorage/Hawaii Thrifty-vs-national geographic ratio here instead of a cost-of-living index, scaling USDA's national Moderate-cost figure for a family of four to roughly $1,756/month.
Result: Recommended monthly grocery budget in Alaska: approximately $1,756. The Thrifty plan (about $1,295/month) is achievable with meal planning and cooking from scratch. Switching from the Liberal plan (~$2,123/month) down to Moderate saves roughly $4,404/year per family — mostly by cutting convenience foods and eating out less.
Worked example: groceries for a family of four in Alaska
$1,388.20 (USDA Moderate-Cost, reference family of four, August 2026) × 1.2647 (USDA's Anchorage Thrifty cost over the national one) = $1,755.69 a month, $21,068.28 a year.
Alaska has no state sales tax. A borough may levy a sales tax on sales and may grant exemptions by ordinance, and cities may levy their own, so whether groceries are taxed depends on where you shop. This page models no local rate: type your borough or city grocery rate into the calculator and it adds that tax to the basket.
| Household | Thrifty | Moderate-Cost | Liberal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $435 | $557 | $694 |
| 2 people | $797 | $1,021 | $1,273 |
| 3 people | $1,060 | $1,409 | $1,722 |
| 4 people | $1,295 | $1,756 | $2,123 |
| 5 people | $1,537 | $2,085 | $2,521 |
Alaska Statutes AS 29.45.650 and 29.45.700, read 2026-10-14 at www.akleg.gov.
StateCalc Team
Editorial Team
The StateCalc team builds free financial calculators using data from official government sources including the IRS, U.S. Census Bureau, BLS, and state revenue departments. All formulas are validated by an automated test suite and cross-referenced against published data.
Our editorial standardsFrequently Asked Questions
How much should I spend on groceries in Alaska?
On USDA's Moderate-Cost plan at Alaska prices: about $1,756 a month for a family of 4, $1,021 for two adults and $557 for one adult. The Thrifty to Liberal range for 4 is Thrifty ~$1,295, Low-Cost ~$1,424, Moderate ~$1,756 to Liberal ~$2,123.
What is the average meal cost in Alaska?
About $4.81 per person for a home-cooked meal: $1,756 a month ÷ 4 people ÷ 30.44 days ÷ 3 meals. Restaurant meals are separate; this page defaults them to $22.
What is the average weekly grocery bill in Alaska?
About $405 a week for a family of four and $129 for one person (the monthly figures × 12 ÷ 52).
Are groceries taxed in Alaska?
Not by the state (Alaska Statutes AS 29.45.650 and 29.45.700), but boroughs and cities may still tax groceries. The calculator's local-rate box starts at 0%, so the $1,756 family-of-4 basket shows $0 of tax until you enter your borough or city rate.
People Also Calculate
Frequently used together with this calculator
Related Calculators
More Grocery Budget Calculators
More Calculators for Alaska
Explore related financial tools with Alaska data
Compare Alaska With Other States
Side-by-side tax, housing & cost of living comparisons