Best PlacesAnchorage Municipality, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Anchorage Municipality, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Anchorage Municipality ranks 106th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $113,352, wages outrun the cost of living, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, cell coverage, and state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Anchorage Municipality
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 Anchorage Municipality
The parts of Anchorage Municipality, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Girdwood
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Anchorage
Crime runs lower and fewer homes sit empty.
Eagle River & Chugiak
More households have young kids, though biking is worse.
Elmendorf AFB
Prices have run up more and fewer residents vote.
Anchorage Municipality shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 9% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Anchorage Municipality's strengths and weaknesses
Anchorage Municipality ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Low taxes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Biking and heat safety follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Cell coverage and state infrastructure also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Anchorage Municipality ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$113,352 median, better than 96% of counties
Where Anchorage Municipality ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,590 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 17% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Anchorage Municipality
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Anchorage Municipality home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $113,352, 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 Municipality's effective rate of 1.18%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Anchorage Municipality
Anchorage Municipality runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Anchorage Municipality.
Who works in Anchorage Municipality, and how
Work in Anchorage Municipality 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 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Anchorage Municipality
Anchorage Municipality has more parkland per resident than 94% of counties. The coast is about 6 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Anchorage Municipality and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Anchorage Municipality growing, and who is moving in?
Anchorage Municipality has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Anchorage, AK metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Anchorage Municipality go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Anchorage Municipality, month by month
Anchorage Municipality sees roughly 134 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° |
Flying in and out of Anchorage Municipality
The nearest airport, Merrill Field, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 7 miles away.
The best schools in and around Anchorage Municipality
Schools across Anchorage Municipality average a C, better than 42% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Huffman ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Eagle Academy Charter SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Bear Valley ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Goldenview Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Gruening Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Mirror Lake Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Steller Secondary SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Eagle River High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- South Anchorage High SchoolB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Anchorage Municipality school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Anchorage Municipality 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 Municipality against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Anchorage Municipality suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Anchorage Municipality
Is Anchorage Municipality a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Anchorage Municipality ranks 106th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, biking, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Anchorage Municipality expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $403,516. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $113,352 median income, cost of living beats 86% of counties.
Is Anchorage Municipality safe?
Anchorage Municipality is safer than 45% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $603 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Anchorage Municipality?
July highs average about 70 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 9. That works out to about 134 pleasant days a year, more than 85% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Anchorage Municipality?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Girdwood, Anchorage, and Eagle River & Chugiak. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Anchorage Municipality good for families?
Schools beat 42% of counties, crime safety beats 45%, and childcare runs $1,590 a month.
Is Anchorage Municipality good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 72% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Anchorage Municipality with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Anchorage Municipality. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Anchorage Municipality 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 Municipality detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Anchorage Municipality: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Anchorage Municipality: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Anchorage Municipality: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Anchorage Municipality: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Anchorage Municipality 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.