An art director who might, say, design a data graphic for a monthly magazine can expect an average salary of $63,030 in Alaska. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), that’s considerably lower than art directors earn in the Lower 48, mostly in the advertising and movie industries. [Art Director’s note-to-self: check life choices.]

An editor who prepares text for publication has a mean annual wage of $53,290, according to BLS. That’s also a bit lower than the same job pays outside of Alaska, [Editor’s note: Sterchi-Lowman, check my life choices, too.] but a bit more than the average emergency medical technician, who earns more in Alaska than elsewhere.

The Alaska Department of Labor & Workforce Development (DOL&WD) counts twenty-six art directors, about the same as the number of audiologists, and eighty-one editors, nearly equal to the number of chiropractors. However, DOL&WD projects that the number of editors will shrink to about seventy by the end of this decade. Let’s blame a declining appreciation for excellent writing. Or computer spellcheckers. Whatever.

The entire BLS category of “Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations” totals 2,800 in Alaska, counting every journalist, photographer, disc jockey, professional coach, and floral designer. That’s far less than the single occupation of home health aide. As the boom of babies from the mid-20th century becomes a bulge of senior citizens by the middle of the 21st, healthcare occupations can only gain importance. In this edition of Alaska Trends, we take the pulse of healthcare employment and wages.