Best PlacesKenai Peninsula Borough, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kenai Peninsula Borough, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime read low across the board, which puts the choice down to which part suits you. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kenai Peninsula Borough ranks 1,146th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kenai Peninsula Borough
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.
The best areas in Kenai Peninsula Borough
The parts of Kenai Peninsula Borough, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Soldotna & Kalifornsky
Fewer homes sit empty and more residents vote.
Kenai & Sterling
Incomes run higher and local pay stretches further.
Homer & Anchor Point
Big-city amenities are further off and prices have run up more.
Seward & Bear Creek
More adults hold degrees, though crime runs higher.
Nikiski
More households have young kids, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Kenai Peninsula Borough run from about the 13th to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Kenai Peninsula Borough's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kenai Peninsula Borough ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of counties
- QuietBetter than 90% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 82% of counties
Where Kenai Peninsula Borough ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kenai Peninsula Borough
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kenai Peninsula Borough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $81,429; 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 Kenai Peninsula Borough'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 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 Kenai Peninsula Borough
Kenai Peninsula Borough'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 Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Who works in Kenai Peninsula Borough, and how
Work in Kenai Peninsula Borough centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Kenai Peninsula Borough
Kenai Peninsula Borough has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of counties. The coast is about 11 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Kenai Peninsula Borough and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kenai Peninsula Borough growing, and who is moving in?
Kenai Peninsula Borough has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Anchorage, AK.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kenai Peninsula Borough go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kenai Peninsula Borough, month by month
Kenai Peninsula Borough sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 67 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 16° | 7° |
| April | 48° | 37° | 26° |
| July | 67° | 58° | 48° |
| October | 47° | 37° | 28° |
Flying in and out of Kenai Peninsula Borough
The nearest airport, Kenai Municipal, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kenai Peninsula Borough
Schools across Kenai Peninsula Borough average a B−, better than 67% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Aurora Borealis Charter SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Bear Valley ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Soldotna Montessori Charter SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Homer Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Skyview Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Seward Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Homer High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- River City AcademyB · 50% proficient
- Homer Flex SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kenai Peninsula Borough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kenai Peninsula Borough 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 Peninsula Borough against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kenai Peninsula Borough suits
Common questions about living in Kenai Peninsula Borough
Is Kenai Peninsula Borough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kenai Peninsula Borough ranks 1,146th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, heat safety, and low taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kenai Peninsula Borough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $325,336. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $81,429 median income, cost of living beats 8% of counties.
Is Kenai Peninsula Borough safe?
Yes, Kenai Peninsula Borough is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $474 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kenai Peninsula Borough?
July highs average about 67 degrees, and January highs near 26 with lows near 7. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kenai Peninsula Borough?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Soldotna & Kalifornsky, Kenai & Sterling, and Homer & Anchor Point. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Kenai Peninsula Borough with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kenai Peninsula Borough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kenai Peninsula Borough 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 Peninsula Borough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kenai Peninsula Borough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kenai Peninsula Borough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kenai Peninsula Borough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kenai Peninsula Borough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kenai Peninsula Borough 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.