Best PlacesBristol Bay Borough, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bristol Bay Borough, 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.
Bristol Bay Borough ranks 1,767th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bristol Bay Borough
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.
Bristol Bay Borough's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bristol Bay Borough ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Short commute9.2 minutes each way, better than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of counties
- QuietBetter than 99% of counties
Where Bristol Bay Borough ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bristol Bay Borough
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bristol Bay Borough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,625, 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 Bristol Bay Borough's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 Bristol Bay Borough
Bristol Bay Borough's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Bristol Bay Borough.
Who works in Bristol Bay Borough, and how
Work in Bristol Bay Borough centers on manufacturing and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 24%
Life in Bristol Bay Borough
The coast is about 60 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Bristol Bay Borough, which the map shows.
Is Bristol Bay Borough growing, and who is moving in?
Bristol Bay Borough has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bristol Bay Borough go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bristol Bay Borough, month by month
Bristol Bay Borough sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 64 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 12° |
| April | 43° | 35° | 27° |
| July | 64° | 56° | 48° |
| October | 46° | 39° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Bristol Bay Borough
The nearest airport, King Salmon, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 290 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bristol Bay Borough
Schools across Bristol Bay Borough average a D−, better than 3% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Naknek ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Bristol Bay Middle/high SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bristol Bay Borough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bristol Bay Borough 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 Bristol Bay Borough against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Bristol Bay Borough
Is Bristol Bay Borough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bristol Bay Borough ranks 1,767th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, heat safety, and short commutes, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bristol Bay Borough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,800. The overall cost of living runs about 38% above the national average. Set against a $95,625 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Bristol Bay Borough safe?
Bristol Bay Borough is safer than 1% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,261 per resident a year.
Compare Bristol Bay Borough with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bristol Bay Borough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bristol Bay Borough 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.
Bristol Bay Borough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bristol Bay Borough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bristol Bay Borough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bristol Bay Borough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bristol Bay Borough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bristol Bay Borough 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.