Best PlacesAlaska Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Alaska, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alaska ranks 24th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 23 minutes away. Its strengths are quiet and heat safety. The cost shows up in cell coverage, empty homes, and thin health care access.
The best neighborhoods in Alaska
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.
The best areas in Alaska
The counties of Alaska, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Anchorage Municipality & Matanuska-Susitna Borough
Big-city amenities are closer, fewer homes sit empty, and biking is better.
Juneau City and Borough, Ketchikan Gateway Borough & Sitka City and Borough
Disaster risk is lower, though fewer households have young kids.
Chugach Census Area
It is quieter and commutes are shorter.
Fairbanks North Star Borough
Prices have run up less, though the air is dirtier.
Kodiak Island Borough & Aleutians West Census Area
Local pay stretches less far and crime runs higher.
Kenai Peninsula Borough & Bethel Census Area
Homes cost less, though advertised internet is slower.
Nome Census Area, North Slope Borough & Northwest Arctic Borough
Fewer adults hold degrees and health care is harder to reach.
Alaska shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Alaska's strengths and weaknesses
Alaska lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Quiet is the standout, in the top 1% of states. Heat safety and low taxes follow.
The one real hole is cell coverage, near the bottom of the country. Empty homes and thin health care access also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Alaska ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of states
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of states
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of states
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of states
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of states
Where Alaska ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of states
- Low vacancyBetter than only 7% of states
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of states
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of states
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Alaska
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alaska home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $98,852, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Alaska's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alaska
Alaska runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alaska.
Who works in Alaska, and how
Work in Alaska centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Alaska
Alaska has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most states and more parkland per resident than 73% of states. Alaska has 6,640 miles of ocean coastline. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Alaska and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Alaska, month by month
Alaska sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 70 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 9° |
| April | 48° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 70° | 61° | 54° |
| October | 46° | 38° | 29° |
The best schools in and around Alaska
Schools across Alaska average a C, better than 33% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Aurora Borealis Charter SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Academy Charter SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Huffman ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Homer Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Mitkof Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Goldenview Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Mat-su Career & Tech Ed High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Steller Secondary SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Delta Junction Senior High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alaska school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alaska 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 Alaska against the other 49 states.
Who Alaska suits
Common questions about living in Alaska
Is Alaska a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alaska ranks 24th of 50 states. It scores highest on quiet, heat safety, and low taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alaska expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $348,995. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $98,852 median income, cost of living beats 13% of states.
Is Alaska safe?
Alaska is safer than 47% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $611 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Alaska?
July highs average about 70 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 9. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of states.
What are the best areas in Alaska?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Anchorage Municipality & Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Juneau City and Borough, Ketchikan Gateway Borough & Sitka City and Borough, and Chugach Census Area. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Alaska good for families?
Schools beat 33% of states, crime safety beats 47%, and childcare runs $1,347 a month.
Is Alaska good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 13% of states, though advertised internet speeds beat only 21% of states. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Alaska with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alaska. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alaska 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.
Alaska detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alaska: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alaska: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alaska: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alaska: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alaska 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.
- 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.