Alaska is domestic shipping at maximum distance. From the East Coast, Anchorage is the highest USPS zone there is, and carrier prices spread apart fast — on our live runs below, the cheapest and the priciest service differ by more than a factor of two on the same route. A minute of comparison buys real money here.
Real quotes, pulled 2026-07-27, for a defined box on the Anchorage lane. The date matters: Alaska rates move, so treat this as a snapshot.
For this guide we ran a packed household-goods box, 12 × 10 × 6 in at 5 lb, through the SMKlog calculator to Anchorage twice: once from Newark, once from Los Angeles. Every row below is verbatim carrier output. Checkout charges exactly the printed price, with SMKlog's cut already folded in.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $21.28 | 11-12 business days |
| USPS | Priority Mail | $31.29 | 6-7 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $32.54 | 6 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $49.62 | 7-8 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $57.14 | 2-3 business days |
| Carrier | Service | Price | Quoted transit |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $21.28 | 13-14 business days |
| USPS | Priority Mail | $31.29 | 3-4 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $32.54 | 5 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $49.62 | 6-7 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $57.14 | 2-3 business days |
USPS Ground Advantage won both runs to Anchorage at $21.28, and the UPS options landed well above it. Off-road-system ZIPs in remote Alaska can add transit days past anything a table shows, which is why the quote for your exact ZIP is the one to trust. It's still domestic mail, like Hawaii: no customs forms, ordinary tracking. Prices in these tables age quickly, so rerun the route with your own box before you plan around them.
Carriers slice the country into distance zones, and the fee climbs with each one. From nearly anywhere in the lower 48, Anchorage lands in the farthest band, which is most of what you're seeing in these prices. There's no way around the geography, only smarter choices within it.
Ground Advantage quoted 11-12 business days from Newark on our run; UPS 2nd Day Air quoted 2-3 for $57.14. If the box holds a birthday present with a date on it, the fast tier is the practical pick. If nobody's waiting, the slow one saves real money.
A long lane means more handoffs. For contents with real value, SMKlog offers shipping protection when you buy the label, and it's worth weighing where a loss would sting. For ordinary household stuff, most people skip it.
$21.28 on both of our 2026-07-27 runs: Newark to Anchorage and Los Angeles to Anchorage each opened with USPS Ground Advantage at that figure for a 12 × 10 × 6 in, 5 lb box. The number at checkout is the number charged; SMKlog's share is inside it. Your parcel will quote differently, so run it.
Slower than the lower 48. USPS Ground Advantage quoted 11-12 business days from Newark and 13-14 from Los Angeles on 2026-07-27, while UPS 2nd Day Air quoted 2-3 from either coast. Each table row shows its own carrier-stated window.
Yes, entirely. No customs declaration, regular domestic tracking, standard postage rules from every major carrier. The catch is distance: from most origins Alaska occupies the top zone band, and the prices above reflect exactly that.
No registration. Enter the item and the two ZIP codes, compare what USPS, UPS and FedEx return, pay for the row you want, print. Tracking is included automatically.