Best PlacesKing Salmon, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around King Salmon, 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.
King Salmon ranks 30,836th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in King Salmon
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.
King Salmon's strengths and weaknesses
Where King Salmon ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute9.7 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
Where King Salmon ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 43 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in King Salmon
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median King Salmon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,185, 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 King Salmon's effective rate of 0.36%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in King Salmon
King Salmon runs younger 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 King Salmon.
Who works in King Salmon, and how
Work in King Salmon centers on public administration and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 25%
Life in King Salmon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across King Salmon.
What the weather is like in King Salmon, month by month
King Salmon sees roughly 43 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 68 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 47° | 36° | 26° |
| July | 68° | 57° | 47° |
| October | 48° | 39° | 29° |
Flying in and out of King Salmon
The nearest airport, King Salmon, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 278 miles away.
The best schools in and around King Salmon
Schools across King Salmon average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Naknek ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Bristol Bay Middle/high SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every King Salmon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
King Salmon 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 King Salmon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in King Salmon
Is King Salmon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, King Salmon ranks 30,836th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, short commutes, and heat safety, and lowest on the weather and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is King Salmon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $244,295. The overall cost of living runs about 37% above the national average. Set against a $90,185 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is King Salmon safe?
King Salmon is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,374 per resident a year.
Compare King Salmon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to King Salmon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in King Salmon 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.
King Salmon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for King Salmon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in King Salmon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of King Salmon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in King Salmon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
King Salmon 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.