Best PlacesAnchorage, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Anchorage, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Anchorage ranks 1,106th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Anchorage
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.
Anchorage's strengths and weaknesses
Where Anchorage ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$204,018 median, better than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
Where Anchorage ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of towns
- Cheap childcare$939 a month, better than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Anchorage
A household needs to earn about $195,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Anchorage home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $204,018, 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 Anchorage's effective rate of 0.88%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Anchorage
Anchorage's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Anchorage.
Who works in Anchorage, and how
Work in Anchorage centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Anchorage
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Anchorage.
What the weather is like in Anchorage, month by month
Anchorage sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 45° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Anchorage
The nearest airport, Louisville Muhammad Ali International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Anchorage
Schools across Anchorage average a B+, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Anchorage Independent Public SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Bowen ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Middletown ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crosby MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Eastern HighB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Anchorage school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Anchorage 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 Anchorage against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Anchorage
Is Anchorage a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Anchorage ranks 1,106th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on the weather and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Anchorage expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $738,197. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $204,018 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is Anchorage safe?
Anchorage is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $305 per resident a year.
Compare Anchorage with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Anchorage. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Anchorage 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.
Anchorage detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Anchorage: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Anchorage: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Anchorage: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Anchorage: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Anchorage 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.