Best PlacesDot Lake, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dot Lake, 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.
Dot Lake ranks 47,240th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dot Lake
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.
Dot Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dot Lake ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute19.0 minutes each way, better than 91% of towns
Where Dot Lake ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dot Lake
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dot Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,819, 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 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 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 Dot Lake
Dot Lake runs older than the country, 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 Dot Lake.
Who works in Dot Lake, and how
Work in Dot Lake centers on public administration and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in Dot Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dot Lake.
What the weather is like in Dot Lake, month by month
Dot Lake sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 73 degrees. January highs sit near 12, with lows near -5. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12° | 3° | -5° |
| April | 45° | 34° | 21° |
| July | 73° | 62° | 52° |
| October | 37° | 29° | 22° |
Flying in and out of Dot Lake
The nearest airport, Fairbanks International, is about 135 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 248 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dot Lake
Schools across Dot Lake average a C−, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Delta Junction ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Glennallen ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Tanacross SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Delta Junction Senior High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Glennallen Jr/sr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dot Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dot Lake 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 Dot Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dot Lake
Is Dot Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dot Lake ranks 47,240th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, low taxes, and heat safety, and lowest on crime and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dot Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $124,049. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $58,819 median income, cost of living beats 5% of towns.
Is Dot Lake safe?
Dot Lake is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,568 per resident a year.
Compare Dot Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dot Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dot Lake 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.
Dot Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dot Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dot Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dot Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dot Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dot Lake 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.