Does the FAA table show how much freight goes through Anchorage?

No. The FAA's table reports the landed weight of all-cargo flights, which for Ted Stevens Anchorage International was 26,279,915,354 pounds in 2025. It does not report tons of freight, so we do not convert it. The state's airport page labels a slide image North America's Busiest Cargo Airport and gives no year or measure.

What does the Port of Alaska handle?

The port's site says about half of all Alaska inbound cargo crosses its docks and that it handled 5.5 million tons of fuel and freight in 2025. Those are the port's own claims and include fuel, so they are not a measure of the parcels a Shopify store ships.

Does Anchorage have a sales tax?

The Municipality's February 2025 estimate says it does not currently impose a sales tax and has never had a general one, though it taxes rooms, tobacco, rental vehicles, marijuana and alcohol with special taxes. The Assembly postponed 1 percent and 3 percent proposals in December 2025 and January 2026, and the Charter requires voter approval. The Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission's member table lists Anchorage only for alcoholic beverages (5 percent, since Feb. 1, 2021) and on no general retail row; the Alaska state page covers the Commission. Confirm the current rule with the Municipality; this is not tax advice.

Is Anchorage growing?

Not in the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates, which put the municipality at 287,155 residents, below the April 2020 estimates base of 291,242. That is one reason to plan offers around parcel cost, not around a growing local market.

Anchorage: the FAA's top all-cargo airport, and a case for fewer, bigger parcels

The Federal Aviation Administration's final table of all-cargo landed weight for calendar year 2025 lists Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport first, at 26,279,915,354 pounds, up 3.19 percent from 25,468,126,865 pounds in 2024. The table measures the landed weight of all-cargo flights, not freight tonnage, so it says Anchorage is where the cargo airlines land most, not how many tons they carry. In the same city, the Port of Alaska says on its own site that about half of all Alaska inbound cargo crosses its docks. For a Shopify store the lesson is practical: Anchorage is a hub where shipments to Alaska converge, and the parcels you send there travel a long way to reach it. This page uses those facts and the Municipality's own tax record to build a plan for one bigger order instead of several small parcels, using the volume discount template. This is not tax advice.

Updated October 11, 2026 · 7 sourced facts

Aerial view of a port waterfront on the Anchorage shoreline with docks, storage tanks and container yards, and snow-capped mountains behind the city — Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, photographer not specified or unknown, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Where Anchorage sits

Anchorage has the airport the FAA ranks first for all-cargo landed weight and a port that says it handles about half of Alaska's inbound cargo, so shipments to Alaska converge here.

A volume discount plan for shipments to Anchorage

Before you set the tiers
Work out what one parcel to an Anchorage address costs you, using a quote from your carrier, and compare it to two parcels of half the size. As planning advice, set the first tier at the order value where one parcel's freight is a small share of margin. Assume a 12 dollar parcel cost and a 40 percent margin: on a 60 dollar order, freight is half the 24 dollars of margin, and on a 150 dollar order it is a fifth of 60 dollars. Those are assumptions for the arithmetic.
Source: Federal Aviation Administration: Final Calendar Year 2025 All-Cargo Landed Weight (9/22/2026)
When you write the tiers
Say what the shopper gets for buying more: for example, buy 2, save 10 percent; buy 3, save 20 percent. Keep the tiers on the products you can pack together, since the point is one parcel. The Port of Alaska says about half of Alaska's inbound cargo crosses its docks, so a parcel to Anchorage is part of a large inbound flow, and fewer parcels is the lever you control.
Source: Port of Alaska (Municipality of Anchorage): home page
When you write the banner
Do not state a tax rate for Anchorage. The Municipality's 2025 estimate says it has no general sales tax, but its Assembly page shows two proposals postponed, and it says enacting one needs voter approval. If tax changes, a banner that quoted it goes stale. This is not tax advice.
Source: Municipality of Anchorage Assembly: Tax Reform Proposals
When you review the tiers
After one quarter, compare average parcels per Anchorage order and freight per order before and after the tiers. If shoppers did not combine orders, move the first tier or change the product mix in the offer.

Build it with the Volume discount template.

Start free

Questions merchants ask

Does the FAA table show how much freight goes through Anchorage?: No. The FAA's table reports the landed weight of all-cargo flights, which for Ted Stevens Anchorage International was 26,279,915,354 pounds in 2025. It does not report tons of freight, so we do not convert it. The state's airport page labels a slide image North America's Busiest Cargo Airport and gives no year or measure.
What does the Port of Alaska handle?: The port's site says about half of all Alaska inbound cargo crosses its docks and that it handled 5.5 million tons of fuel and freight in 2025. Those are the port's own claims and include fuel, so they are not a measure of the parcels a Shopify store ships.
Does Anchorage have a sales tax?: The Municipality's February 2025 estimate says it does not currently impose a sales tax and has never had a general one, though it taxes rooms, tobacco, rental vehicles, marijuana and alcohol with special taxes. The Assembly postponed 1 percent and 3 percent proposals in December 2025 and January 2026, and the Charter requires voter approval. The Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission's member table lists Anchorage only for alcoholic beverages (5 percent, since Feb. 1, 2021) and on no general retail row; the Alaska state page covers the Commission. Confirm the current rule with the Municipality; this is not tax advice.
Is Anchorage growing?: Not in the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates, which put the municipality at 287,155 residents, below the April 2020 estimates base of 291,242. That is one reason to plan offers around parcel cost, not around a growing local market.

Offer ideas for Anchorage

Quote one bigger order, not three small parcels

Every parcel to Anchorage pays its own freight over a long route, so a shopper who orders three times a month pays three times. A volume discount that rewards one bigger order cuts the number of parcels for you and the shopper. This is planning advice, not a rule of the airport or the port.

Source: Port of Alaska (Municipality of Anchorage): home page

Read the airport table for what it says

The FAA table ranks Anchorage first by landed weight of all-cargo flights, 26,279,915,354 pounds in 2025. It does not give freight tonnage or say what is carried, so use it as a sign that Anchorage is a hub, and ask your carrier what it does at the airport.

Source: Federal Aviation Administration: Final Calendar Year 2025 All-Cargo Landed Weight (9/22/2026)

Do not promise tax on the Municipality's say-so

The Municipality's 2025 estimate says it does not impose a sales tax and the Assembly postponed the latest proposals in 2026, but charter rules require voters to approve one. Check the Municipality's page before each season and write no tax claim into a banner.

Source: Municipality of Anchorage Assembly: Tax Reform Proposals

Facts and sources

The FAA's final Calendar Year 2025 All-Cargo Landed Weight table, dated Sept. 22, 2026, lists Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport first at 26,279,915,354 pounds, a 3.19 percent increase from 25,468,126,865 pounds in 2024, ahead of Louisville at 19,673,037,330 pounds and Memphis at 16,272,459,740 pounds.
Federal Aviation Administration: Final Calendar Year 2025 All-Cargo Landed Weight (9/22/2026) (accessed October 11, 2026)
The Alaska Department of Transportation's Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport page calls the airport Alaska's Gateway to the World and carries a slide image whose alt text reads North America's Busiest Cargo Airport, with no year and no tonnage given.
Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities: Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (accessed October 11, 2026)
The Port of Alaska's own site says about half of all Alaska inbound cargo crosses its docks and that it handled 5.5 million tons of fuel and freight in 2025; both are the port's claims.
Port of Alaska (Municipality of Anchorage): home page (accessed October 11, 2026)
The Municipality of Anchorage's February 2025 sales tax estimate says the Municipality does not currently impose a sales tax, that there has never been a general sales tax in the Municipality or at the state level, and that it taxes rooms, tobacco, rental vehicles, marijuana and alcohol with special taxes.
Municipality of Anchorage: Updated Sales Tax Estimates for the Municipality of Anchorage (February 2025) (accessed October 11, 2026)
The Anchorage Assembly's Tax Reform Proposals page says the Assembly voted unanimously on Dec. 16, 2025 to postpone a 1 percent sales tax ordinance indefinitely, voted 12 to 0 on Jan. 13, 2026 to postpone the mayor's 3 percent sales tax ordinance indefinitely at her request, and that under the Municipal Charter enacting sales taxes requires voter approval.
Municipality of Anchorage Assembly: Tax Reform Proposals (accessed October 11, 2026)
The Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission's member jurisdictions table lists the Municipality of Anchorage on one row only, type Alcoholic Beverage, effective Feb. 1, 2021, at 5 percent, and on no general retail row.
Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission: Member Jurisdictions (accessed October 11, 2026)
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate for the Anchorage municipality is 287,155 residents, down from an April 2020 estimates base of 291,242.
U.S. Census Bureau: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places (Vintage 2025, SUB-EST2025) (accessed October 11, 2026)

Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.

Run the Anchorage plan in Freebies Engine by Log Studio Lab.