Best Places99918, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 99918, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
99918 ranks 28,649th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 99918
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
99918's strengths and weaknesses
Where 99918 ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
Where 99918 ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 99918
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 99918 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $46,786; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 99918's effective rate of 0.01%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 99918
99918 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 99918.
Who works in 99918, and how
Work in 99918 centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in 99918
The coast is about 1 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 99918, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 99918, month by month
99918 sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 66 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 37° | 32° |
| April | 54° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 66° | 58° | 52° |
| October | 54° | 47° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 99918
The nearest airport, Klawock, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 712 miles away.
The best schools in and around 99918
Schools across 99918 average a C−, better than 21% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Evergreen ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stikine Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Wrangell High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 99918 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
99918 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 99918 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 99918
Is 99918 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 99918 ranks 28,649th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low property taxes, heat safety, and low taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 99918 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,300. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $46,786 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 99918 safe?
99918 is safer than 7% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,121 per resident a year.
Compare 99918 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 99918. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 99918 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
99918 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 99918: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 99918: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 99918: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 99918: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
99918 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.