Best PlacesKachemak, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kachemak, 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.
Kachemak ranks 11,362nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kachemak
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.
Kachemak's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kachemak ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 91% of towns
- QuietBetter than 90% of towns
Where Kachemak ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kachemak
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kachemak home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $86,828; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Kachemak's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Kachemak
Kachemak's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kachemak.
Who works in Kachemak, and how
Work in Kachemak centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Kachemak
The coast is about 4 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Kachemak, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kachemak, month by month
Kachemak sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 64 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 27° | 20° |
| April | 47° | 40° | 31° |
| July | 64° | 57° | 49° |
| October | 49° | 42° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Kachemak
The nearest airport, Homer, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kachemak
Schools across Kachemak average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mcneil Canyon ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- West Homer ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Homer Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Homer High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kachemak school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kachemak 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 Kachemak against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kachemak
Is Kachemak a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kachemak ranks 11,362nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, clean air, and low taxes, and lowest on distance from a big city and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kachemak expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $373,971. The overall cost of living runs about 41% above the national average. Set against a $86,828 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Kachemak safe?
Yes, Kachemak is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $334 per resident a year.
Compare Kachemak with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kachemak. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kachemak 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.
Kachemak detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kachemak: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kachemak: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kachemak: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kachemak: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kachemak 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.