Best PlacesKetchikan Gateway Borough, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ketchikan Gateway Borough ranks 238th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ketchikan Gateway 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.
Ketchikan Gateway Borough's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ketchikan Gateway Borough ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of counties
Where Ketchikan Gateway Borough ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,329 a month, better than only 5% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ketchikan Gateway Borough
A household needs to earn about $100,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ketchikan Gateway Borough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $94,099; 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 Ketchikan Gateway Borough's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ketchikan Gateway Borough
Ketchikan Gateway Borough's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Ketchikan Gateway Borough.
Who works in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, and how
Work in Ketchikan Gateway Borough centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Ketchikan Gateway Borough
Ketchikan Gateway Borough has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of counties and more parkland per resident than 98% of counties. The coast is about 14 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ketchikan Gateway Borough and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ketchikan Gateway Borough growing, and who is moving in?
Ketchikan Gateway Borough has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Wrangell City and Borough, AK.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ketchikan Gateway Borough go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, month by month
Ketchikan Gateway Borough sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 67 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 37° | 33° |
| April | 52° | 44° | 37° |
| July | 67° | 60° | 54° |
| October | 53° | 47° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Ketchikan Gateway Borough
The nearest airport, Ketchikan International, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 679 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ketchikan Gateway Borough
Schools across Ketchikan Gateway Borough average a B−, better than 64% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Point Higgins SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Tongass School Of Arts And Sciences Charter SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Fawn Mountain ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Schoenbar Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Ketchikan High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Revilla Jr/sr High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ketchikan Gateway Borough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ketchikan Gateway 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 Ketchikan Gateway Borough against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Ketchikan Gateway Borough
Is Ketchikan Gateway Borough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ketchikan Gateway Borough ranks 238th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, low taxes, and heat safety, and lowest on cell coverage 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 Ketchikan Gateway Borough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $387,795. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $94,099 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Ketchikan Gateway Borough safe?
Ketchikan Gateway Borough is safer than 30% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $680 per resident a year.
Compare Ketchikan Gateway Borough with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ketchikan Gateway Borough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ketchikan Gateway 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.
Ketchikan Gateway Borough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ketchikan Gateway Borough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ketchikan Gateway Borough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ketchikan Gateway Borough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ketchikan Gateway Borough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ketchikan Gateway 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.