Alaska veteran benefits
- Verified veteran benefits
- 22
- each with its statute
- Counties covered
- 30
- every one has its own page
- Veterans in this state
- 0.07M
- Rating thresholds that matter
- 0
- each one opens something different
How to use this, in four steps
You are on step 1. Nothing is locked — browse everything first, then check the ones that look relevant.
See what you may be entitled to
Browse every verified benefit in your state. No questions, no account — everything is open.
Check whether you qualify
Open any benefit and answer a few questions about that one. We stop as soon as we know.
Get the letter that shows the finding
A VA Benefit Summary Letter configured to show service connection, the rating and permanence satisfies most offices without disclosing any diagnosis.
File before the deadline
File with your municipal tax assessor, with a current VA letter showing the rating effective before January 1 of the tax year.
Which of these sounds like you?
Pick one and we will narrow the list. You can change or clear it at any point.
Two things sharpen this a lot
Both optional. Your county decides where you file and what a property tax exemption is actually worth; your rating decides which thresholds you cross.
Where do you live?
We use this once to work out your county, because property tax is decided county by county. No benefit is ever matched on a ZIP code alone.
Your VA disability status
What does my rating actually unlock?
Read the record for the test that applies in Alaska — the gate is 50%, the $150,000 is mandatory statewide, and municipalities may exempt more.
28 benefits worth checking
What you appear to qualify for — worth checking.
One question checks 13 of them. You can skip it and keep browsing.
Did you serve in the U.S. armed forces?
2 more questions could resolve others. We ask them one at a time.
Mandatory $150,000 Exemption at 50%
The first $150,000 of assessed value is exempt at a 50% service-connected rating — mandatory in every municipality, in a state with no income tax and no statewide property tax.
VeteransApplies statewideThe first $150,000 of assessed value, exempt
Read it and check if you qualifyOne Per Cent Off the First $50,000 — and Widows and Widowers Can Claim It
AHFC discounts the interest rate by one percentage point on the first $50,000 of a loan; above that the rate blends and rounds up to the next 0.125%. It asks for an honorable discharge and 90 days of active duty — five years of service for Alaska Guard and Reserve members — and currently serving members are excluded. The widow or widower of a qualified veteran may also be eligible. It cannot be combined with the Veterans Mortgage Program.
VeteransApplies statewideOne percentage point off the rate on the first $50,000 of the loan
Read it and check if you qualifyA State Mortgage at a Veteran-Only Rate — Within 25 Years of Discharge
The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation offers a below-market fixed-rate first mortgage to veterans within 25 years of discharge under conditions other than dishonorable. Alaska is one of only five states federally authorised to run such a programme. It can be combined with a VA guaranty or private mortgage insurance — but NOT with AHFC's separate State Veterans interest rate preference, so the two have to be weighed against each other.
VeteransApplies statewideA below-market fixed-rate first mortgage on an owner-occupied Alaska home
Read it and check if you qualifyA CDL Without the Road Test — Your Military Driving Counts
A current service member, or someone within one year of discharge, who held a qualifying military driving specialty may be issued a commercial driving licence without the road skills test and without Entry Level Driver Training. It asks for at least two years operating a comparable military vehicle, a two-year clean driving record, and a commanding officer's certification. It does not waive the Hazardous Materials or School Bus endorsements.
VeteransApplies statewideA CDL issued without the road skills test or Entry Level Driver Training
Read it and check if you qualifyA Free Five-Year Camping Pass — Any Service-Connected Percentage, Including Zero
A veteran with a service-connected disability gets a free camping pass valid in every developed Alaska State Park campground. The department states in terms that the disability PERCENTAGE does not influence qualifying, so a 0% service-connected rating is enough. Passes are issued in odd-numbered years and run for five years. Group sites, day use and boat launch are outside it, and the pass is non-transferable.
VeteransApplies statewideA free camping pass for all developed state park campgrounds, good for five years
Read it and check if you qualifyRecord Your Discharge Paper With the State, Free — Before You Need It
Any veteran holding an original or certified copy of a DD Form 214, DD Form 215 or NGB-22 may have it recorded with the state Recorder's Office at no fee. It creates a copy inside Alaska that you or your family can retrieve later — which matters because nearly all the benefits in this corpus ask for that document, and the federal archive route takes weeks.
VeteransApplies statewideNo-fee recording of your separation document with the state Recorder
Read it and check if you qualifyBuy Up to Five Years of Military Time Into the State Pension
A vested member of the PERS Defined Benefit tiers — first hired before 1 July 2006 — who was honorably discharged from active service may buy up to five years of pension credit. Retirees, deferred vested members and surviving spouses may claim it too. It increases the benefit calculation but not retirement eligibility. Anyone first hired after 30 June 1986 who already draws a federal military retirement for the same service is excluded, though retired Guard and Reserve members may still claim.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to five years of PERS credit, bought at 8.5% of vesting-year salary per year with 7% interest accruing
Read it and check if you qualifyA Diploma for the War That Interrupted School — Territorial Guard Included
Alaska issues a state high school diploma to veterans who served between 7 August 1940 and 25 July 1947, expressly including Alaska Territorial Guard members. Holding a GED does not disqualify you. Where discharge papers cannot be found, an Affidavit of Service is accepted — and family members may apply on behalf of a veteran who has died or is unable to apply themselves.
VeteransApplies statewideA state-issued high school diploma
Read it and check if you qualifyPermanent Free Card — Hunt, Fish, Trap
At 50%, one complimentary PERMANENT card covers hunting, sport fishing and trapping — and exempts you from king salmon stamps and waterfowl conservation stamps besides.
VeteransApplies statewideA permanent identification card: hunting, sport fishing, trapping — plus king salmon and waterfowl stamp exemptions
Read it and check if you qualifyA Five or a Ten in the Preference Column — and What Each One Buys
Under AS 39.25.159 a veteran, former prisoner of war, or long-serving National Guard member is marked 5 or 10 on the referred list for open-competitive vacancies: a 5 means consideration, and a 10 means an offered interview.
VeteransApplies statewideConsideration at 5 points, an offered interview at 10, on open-competitive vacancies
Read it and check if you qualifyTemporary Military Licence, and Credit for What You Did in Uniform
A servicemember on Alaska orders, or their spouse, can practise on a 180-day temporary licence while the permanent one is worked out — and military training can be credited toward the qualifications themselves.
VeteransApplies statewidePractise on a 180-day temporary licence while the permanent one is decided
Read it and check if you qualifyAlaska Veterans and Pioneers Home — 60 and Over, One Year Resident
The state's only veterans home, in Palmer, holds 75% of its 79 beds for veterans. Admission runs on the Pioneer Homes rules — 60 or over and a year of continuous Alaska residency — not on service alone.
VeteransApplies statewideA veteran-designated bed in the Palmer home, at Pioneer Homes rates
Read it and check if you qualifyBusiness Licence at Half Price — but Only as a Sole Proprietor
AS 43.70.030 charges a disabled veteran $25 a year instead of $50 for a state business licence. The discount attaches to the sole proprietor, so incorporating or forming an LLC loses it.
Veteran business ownersApplies statewide$25 a year instead of $50
Read it and check if you qualifyPermanent Fund Dividend — Active Duty Is an Allowable Absence
The dividend normally ends after 180 days away. Active duty service is one of the absences the law allows, so a member stationed elsewhere for the whole qualifying period — and an accompanying spouse or dependant — can stay eligible.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitContinued dividend eligibility through an absence for active duty service
Read it and check if you qualifyGuard and Reserve Members Get a Free Hunting and Fishing Licence
A current member of the Alaska National Guard or a United States reserve component who meets the fish and game residency test holds the resident annual hunting, trapping and sport fishing licence free of charge. It is a separate licence from the free permanent card issued at a 50% rating.
VeteransApplies statewideA free resident annual hunting, trapping and sport fishing licence
Read it and check if you qualifyNational Guard Tuition Assistance — Up to 100% Inside the University System
The Office of Veterans Affairs states that members of the state National Guard may receive up to 100 percent tuition assistance at any school in the state university system, and may also qualify for the federal tuition assistance on top of it.
VeteransApplies statewideUp to 100% of tuition at a school in the state university system
Read it and check if you qualifyKilled in Action, Prisoner of War or Died in the Line of Duty — Undergraduate Tuition and Fees Waived
A surviving spouse or dependant of a resident servicemember who died in the line of duty, was listed as a prisoner of war, or was killed in action is entitled to a waiver of all undergraduate tuition and fees through the state university system.
VeteransApplies statewideAll undergraduate tuition and fees waived through the state university system
Read it and check if you qualifyVeteran Designation at No Extra Fee, and a Licence That Waits for You Overseas
The motor vehicles division adds a veteran designation to a driver licence or identification card with no charge for the designation itself, and extends a non-commercial licence held by a resident stationed overseas past its expiry date.
VeteransApplies statewideNo separate charge for the veteran designation; overseas deployment extends a non-commercial licence
Read it and check if you qualifyNo Operating State Veterans Cemetery Yet — One Is Being Built at Salcha
The state veterans office describes federal burial benefits only, and the cemeteries it points to are national ones. The Interior of Alaska Veterans Cemetery is a State of Alaska cemetery, and its own page says it is scheduled for construction at Salcha.
VeteransApplies statewideNo state cemetery open yet; the federal system is the route today
Read it and check if you qualifyTwenty-Five Per Cent Off State Land — Once in a Lifetime, and Claimed at Purchase
A 25% discount, less development costs, on the purchase price of state residential or recreational land. It may be used only once in a veteran's lifetime, may not be combined with the veterans land purchase preference, and must be claimed at the time of purchase or before the land sale contract is entered into — there is no going back for it afterwards.
VeteransApplies statewide25% off the purchase price of state residential or recreational land, less development costs
Read it and check if you qualifyA Veteran's Preference Auction — Your Bid Beats Higher Ones, and the Parcel Comes With Conditions
State residential parcels of five acres or less, zoned residential, are offered through a Veteran's Preference Auction under AS 38.05.067: veteran sealed bids are opened before the regular sealed-bid auction, and the highest veteran bid takes the parcel even if higher regular bids follow. It is a bidding preference rather than a fixed price. The parcel carries obligations — once in a lifetime, no sale or transfer for five years, and proof within two years that residential development has begun.
VeteransApplies statewideYour sealed bid is opened first and beats higher regular bids — with a five-year transfer bar and a two-year build obligation
Read it and check if you qualifyUp to $3,000 to the Employer Who Hires You — and a Two-Year Cliff
An employer claims $3,000 for hiring a disabled veteran, $2,000 for a veteran who is not disabled and $1,000 for a seasonal hire. The veteran must have been unemployed more than four weeks, and the discharge window is ten years for a disabled veteran but only two for everyone else.
VeteransApplies statewide$3,000 disabled, $2,000 not disabled, $1,000 seasonal — claimed by the employer
Read it and check if you qualifyPriority at the Job Centre on One Day of Service
One day of active service and a discharge other than dishonorable buys priority of service at the state job centres, with advance notice of job openings and dedicated computers. Veterans with employment barriers get an individual plan through a dedicated outreach programme.
VeteransApplies statewideAdvance job notice, dedicated machines, priority in the resource room, an individual plan if needed
Read it and check if you qualifyNo Veteran Route Into the State’s Farm Loans or Land Sales
The agriculture division’s full programme index and its revolving loan fund page were read this session. Neither mentions veterans, military service or beginning farmers, and the loan fund is open to individuals and businesses generally with no service-related preference.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitNo veteran limb in the farm loans — the veteran land routes sit elsewhere
Read it and check if you qualifyGold Star Family Plate — Free to Issue, Free to Renew, Free to Move
The plate for the family of a service member killed in the line of duty costs nothing at issue and nothing at renewal, and it is one of five plate types the motor vehicle division moves between vehicles without the usual transfer fee.
VeteransApplies statewideNo initial price and no renewal fee, plus no plate transfer fee
Read it and check if you qualifyHalf the Ferry Fare on a Service-Connected Disability — No Physician Needed
The state ferry system issues a Disability Discount Pass worth 50% of the standard adult passenger fare. A veteran with a service-connected disability qualifies on VA paperwork alone. It covers the passenger and nothing else — not the vehicle, not the cabin, not the meals.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefit50% off the standard adult passenger fare on state ferries, for two years at a time
Read it and check if you qualifyThe Disabled Veteran Plate Does Not Park — What Actually Does
There are two disabled veteran plates here and only one of them carries parking privileges. The plate on a 50% service-connected rating alone does not park. The parking permit itself is free and lasts five years, but it is a health practitioner who signs for it, not the VA.
VeteransApplies statewideNot a veteran benefitNo charge for the permit or either veteran plate; permanent permits run five years
Read it and check if you qualifyCaregiver and Respite Support — the State Names One Programme and Points Elsewhere
The state veterans office's own healthcare page lists exactly one state-run care programme, the Veterans and Pioneers Home. Caregiver support, respite, adult day care and home health aide services are all listed there as federal VA programmes, not state ones.
VeteransApplies statewideNo state-funded caregiver stipend or respite programme is named for veterans
Read it and check if you qualify
Does my county change the answer?
For the statewide records, no — the same law applies in all 30 counties. What changes is the office you file with and the local tax arithmetic, which we do not yet hold for Alaska.
- Aleutians East Borough
- Aleutians West Census Area
- Anchorage Municipality
- Bethel Census Area
- Bristol Bay Borough
- Chugach Census Area
- Copper River Census Area
- Denali Borough
- Dillingham Census Area
- Fairbanks North Star Borough
- Haines Borough
- Hoonah-Angoon Census Area
- Juneau City and Borough
- Kenai Peninsula Borough
- Ketchikan Gateway Borough
- Kodiak Island Borough
- Kusilvak Census Area
- Lake and Peninsula Borough
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough
- Nome Census Area
- North Slope Borough
- Northwest Arctic Borough
- Petersburg Borough
- Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area
- Sitka City and Borough
- Skagway Municipality
- Southeast Fairbanks Census Area
- Wrangell City and Borough
- Yakutat City and Borough
- Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area
Every benefit here was checked against the statute or rule behind it, and each page shows the date. This is an informational match, not a government eligibility determination — the responsible agency decides your application.