Best PlacesKenai, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kenai, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kenai ranks 13,357th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kenai
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.
Kenai's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kenai ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute17.6 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 84% of towns
Where Kenai ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kenai
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kenai home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,205, 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 Kenai's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Kenai
Kenai runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kenai.
Who works in Kenai, and how
Work in Kenai centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Kenai
Kenai has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of towns and more parkland per resident than 86% of towns. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kenai and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kenai, month by month
Kenai sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 65 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 9° |
| April | 46° | 37° | 26° |
| July | 65° | 56° | 48° |
| October | 47° | 38° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Kenai
The nearest airport, Kenai Municipal, is about 1 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kenai
Schools across Kenai average a B−, better than 55% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Aurora Borealis Charter SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Kaleidoscope School Of Arts & ScienceC · 35% proficient
- Kalifornsky Beach ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Skyview Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Kenai Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- River City AcademyB · 50% proficient
- Kenai Central High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kenai school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kenai 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 Kenai against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kenai
Is Kenai a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kenai ranks 13,357th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, clean air, and low taxes, and lowest on disaster risk 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 Kenai expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $295,008. The overall cost of living runs about 31% above the national average. Set against a $85,205 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Kenai safe?
Yes, Kenai is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $454 per resident a year.
Compare Kenai with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kenai. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kenai 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.
Kenai detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kenai: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kenai: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kenai: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kenai: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kenai 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.