Best PlacesElfin Cove, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elfin Cove, 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.
Elfin Cove ranks 28,940th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elfin Cove
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.
Elfin Cove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elfin Cove ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute10.6 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
Where Elfin Cove ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 40 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elfin Cove
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elfin Cove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,277, 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 Elfin Cove's effective rate of 0.06%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elfin Cove
Elfin Cove runs older 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 Elfin Cove.
Who works in Elfin Cove, and how
Work in Elfin Cove centers on public administration and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 43%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 51%
Life in Elfin Cove
The coast is about 42 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Elfin Cove, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elfin Cove, month by month
Elfin Cove sees roughly 40 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 68 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 50° | 40° | 31° |
| July | 68° | 58° | 49° |
| October | 50° | 42° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Elfin Cove
The nearest airport, Gustavus, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 525 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elfin Cove
Schools across Elfin Cove average a D+, better than 20% of towns.
Top high schools
- Lead CorrespondenceA− · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elfin Cove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elfin Cove 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 Elfin Cove against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elfin Cove
Is Elfin Cove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elfin Cove ranks 28,940th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, short commutes, and low taxes, 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 Elfin Cove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $311,403. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $76,277 median income, cost of living beats 16% of towns.
Is Elfin Cove safe?
Elfin Cove is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $898 per resident a year.
Compare Elfin Cove with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elfin Cove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elfin Cove 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.
Elfin Cove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elfin Cove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elfin Cove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elfin Cove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elfin Cove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elfin Cove 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.