The Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) is a program that every year gives part of Alaska’s PFD income to people who meet the rules. It started in 1976 and is mostly paid for by oil royalties and other investments run by the state.
People think of it as a “stimulus check” like the federal ones given during COVID-19, but it is not. Still, many residents see it as a way of giving money directly to their homes. The PFD amount in 2025 is $1,000 for each person who qualifies, as Alaska’s Department of Revenue announced on September 22, 2025.
600,000 checks of $1,000 each arriving in weeks
It is the lowest in five years and people will get about $650 million in all, more than 650,000 people will get the money. The PFD is set by a formula that figures the average of the PFD’s net income over the last five fiscal years, and then divides that by the number of people who qualify to apply.
The process looks at the state investment returns and budget adjustments made by the state legislature, and then sets the final amount. Online, there are some fake news sites that say the PFD is at $1,702. These are not real.
These are fake and seem to be made by online posts about inflation payments in other states or by the federal government. The legislature, by the use of House Bill 53, set the amount at $1,000. It did not choose to go with the highest possible amount, which was $3,900.
This year’s PFD checks were reduced
The legislature took a move to keep the state’s financial condition safe. To do so, the legislature rejected much higher amounts, like the one proposed by Governor Mike Dunleavy.
For the 2025 PFD, you must meet all the rules, which are in the law. You must have been in Alaska for the whole time of 2024 from January 1 to December 31. You have to have said you want to be in Alaska all the time when you apply.
In fact, you can’t have said you live in another state or in a foreign country, or have gotten money from it, since December 31, 2023. It is against the law to have a felony in 2024, and it is against the law to have been in jail for a felony in 2024.
Simple rules to be eligible for PFD checks
A person who is caught in the rules will not get the money. The rules to be in Alaska also say that you must have been there for at least 72 hours in a row during 2023 or 2024. If you were gone from Alaska for more than 180 days in 2024, then the days you were gone have to be “allowed” days under the PFD rules.
The allowed days are days you are serving in the military, going to a college full-time, getting a health care treatment, working for the U.S. or Alaska in a job outside of Alaska, or going with a spouse who is allowed. People who are in the armed forces and who say they live in Alaska if their home is Alaska are still in the rules if they are outside of Alaska.
Even underage Alaskan are eligible
Children born to or adopted by people who meet the rules can also get the money. Foreign residents who have been allowed into the U.S. and are in Alaska because of asylum, are refugees, or are allowed to stay in the U.S. and are allowed to stay in the state, can also get the money, but they have to show proof of being allowed to stay in Alaska.
People who die before the day when the money is given to them don’t get the money. But in some cases, people who die can get it. They have to do a process to get the money. “We never think a person will get the money on their own.
A new round of stimulus checks scheduled for next month
The first part is on October 2, 2025. To get this, you had to apply online, choose to get money into your bank account, and be told that you qualify on September 18, 2025. The second part is on October 23, 2025.
To get it, you had to apply with paper forms or get a check in the mail instead of into your bank account, and be told that you qualify on October 13, 2025. There will also be other payments in the month of November 2025.
