Best PlacesDouglas, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Douglas, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Douglas ranks 2,635th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Douglas
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.
Douglas' strengths and weaknesses
Where Douglas ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute16.4 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
Where Douglas ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 46 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,133 a month, better than only 15% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Douglas
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Douglas home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,648, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Douglas' 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 Douglas
Douglas runs younger than the country, 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 Douglas.
Who works in Douglas, and how
Work in Douglas centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Douglas
The coast is about 20 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Douglas, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Douglas, month by month
Douglas sees roughly 46 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 67 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 31° | 26° |
| April | 50° | 41° | 33° |
| July | 67° | 59° | 51° |
| October | 49° | 43° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Douglas
The nearest airport, Juneau International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 577 miles away.
The best schools in and around Douglas
Schools across Douglas average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Montessori Borealis Public Alternative SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Saytik: Gastineau Community SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dzantik'i Heeni Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Thunder Mountain High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Douglas school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Douglas 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 Douglas against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Douglas
Is Douglas a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Douglas ranks 2,635th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, clean air, and heat safety, and lowest on the weather 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 Douglas expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $433,514. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $88,648 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Douglas safe?
Yes, Douglas is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $255 per resident a year.
Compare Douglas with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Douglas. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Douglas 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.
Douglas detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Douglas: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Douglas: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Douglas: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Douglas: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Douglas 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.