Best PlacesCentral, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central, 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.
Central ranks 49,244th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central
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.
Central's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central ranks high
- Short commute7.4 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
Where Central ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Central
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $39,219; 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 a national 0.90% effective rate, since no local rate is published, 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 Central
Central'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 Central.
Who works in Central, and how
Work in Central centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 31%
Life in Central
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Central.
What the weather is like in Central, month by month
Central sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near -3, with lows near -21. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | -3° | -12° | -21° |
| April | 38° | 26° | 13° |
| July | 75° | 64° | 53° |
| October | 32° | 24° | 16° |
Flying in and out of Central
The nearest airport, Fort Yukon, is about 74 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 342 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central
Schools across Central average a D+, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Two Rivers SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Ben Eielson Jr/sr High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- West Valley High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central 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 Central against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Central
Is Central a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central ranks 49,244th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, low property taxes, and low taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,700. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $39,219 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Central safe?
Central is safer than 1% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,698 per resident a year.
Compare Central with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central 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.
Central detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central 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.