Best PlacesGateway, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gateway, 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.
Gateway ranks 2,813th 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 Gateway
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.
Gateway's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gateway ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of towns
Where Gateway ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,157 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 24% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gateway
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gateway home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $121,971, 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 Gateway's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gateway
Gateway runs younger 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 Gateway.
Who works in Gateway, and how
Work in Gateway centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Gateway
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Gateway, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Gateway, month by month
Gateway sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 71 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 50° | 40° | 29° |
| July | 71° | 60° | 51° |
| October | 46° | 37° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Gateway
The nearest airport, Merrill Field, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 39 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gateway
Schools across Gateway average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pioneer Peak ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Fred And Sara Machetanz Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Finger Lake ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Teeland Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Colony Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Palmer Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Colony High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Palmer High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Wasilla High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gateway school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gateway 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 Gateway against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gateway
Is Gateway a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gateway ranks 2,813th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, heat safety, and clean air, and lowest on childcare costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gateway expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $418,498. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $121,971 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Gateway safe?
Yes, Gateway is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $234 per resident a year.
Compare Gateway with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gateway. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gateway 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.
Gateway detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gateway: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gateway: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gateway: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gateway: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gateway 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.