Best PlacesGustavus, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gustavus, 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.
Gustavus ranks 33,928th 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 Gustavus
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.
Gustavus' strengths and weaknesses
Where Gustavus ranks high
- Low property taxBetter 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
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
Where Gustavus ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 42 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Gustavus
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gustavus home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,289, 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 Gustavus' effective rate of 0.06%, 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 Gustavus
Gustavus 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 Gustavus.
Who works in Gustavus, and how
Work in Gustavus centers on arts & entertainment and public administration. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 50%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 39%
Life in Gustavus
The coast is about 12 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Gustavus, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Gustavus, month by month
Gustavus sees roughly 42 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 66 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 30° | 25° |
| April | 50° | 40° | 31° |
| July | 66° | 56° | 49° |
| October | 49° | 41° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Gustavus
The nearest airport, Gustavus, is about 0 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 530 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gustavus
Schools across Gustavus average a D+, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Haines ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Haines High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gustavus school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gustavus 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 Gustavus against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Gustavus
Is Gustavus a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gustavus ranks 33,928th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, low taxes, 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 Gustavus expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $308,965. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $64,289 median income, cost of living beats 7% of towns.
Is Gustavus safe?
Gustavus is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $744 per resident a year.
Compare Gustavus with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gustavus. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gustavus 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.
Gustavus detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gustavus: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gustavus: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gustavus: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gustavus: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gustavus 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.