Best PlacesFarmers Loop, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Farmers Loop, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Farmers Loop ranks 7,358th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Farmers Loop
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.
Farmers Loop's strengths and weaknesses
Where Farmers Loop ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$117,281 median, better than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
Where Farmers Loop ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,521 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Farmers Loop
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Farmers Loop home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $117,281, 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 Farmers Loop's effective rate of 1.12%, 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 Farmers Loop
Farmers Loop runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Farmers Loop.
Who works in Farmers Loop, and how
Work in Farmers Loop centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Farmers Loop
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Farmers Loop.
What the weather is like in Farmers Loop, month by month
Farmers Loop sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 5, with lows near -16. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5° | -5° | -16° |
| April | 45° | 33° | 19° |
| July | 75° | 64° | 52° |
| October | 38° | 29° | 21° |
Flying in and out of Farmers Loop
The nearest airport, Fairbanks International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 268 miles away.
The best schools in and around Farmers Loop
Schools across Farmers Loop average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pearl Creek ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Weller ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Ladd ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Randy Smith Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- West Valley High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Lathrop High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Farmers Loop school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Farmers Loop 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 Farmers Loop against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Farmers Loop
Is Farmers Loop a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Farmers Loop ranks 7,358th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, heat safety, and population health, and lowest on childcare costs 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 Farmers Loop expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,616. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $117,281 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Farmers Loop safe?
Yes, Farmers Loop is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $496 per resident a year.
Compare Farmers Loop with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Farmers Loop. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Farmers Loop 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.
Farmers Loop detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Farmers Loop: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Farmers Loop: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Farmers Loop: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Farmers Loop: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Farmers Loop 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.