Best PlacesLake and Peninsula Borough, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lake and Peninsula Borough, 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.
Lake and Peninsula Borough ranks 2,722nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lake and 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.
Lake and Peninsula Borough's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake and Peninsula Borough ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of counties
- QuietBetter than 99% of counties
Where Lake and Peninsula Borough ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 1% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lake and Peninsula Borough
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake and Peninsula Borough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,625, 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 a national 0.90% effective rate, since no local rate is published, 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 Lake and Peninsula Borough
Lake and Peninsula Borough runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake and Peninsula Borough.
Who works in Lake and Peninsula Borough, and how
Work in Lake and Peninsula Borough centers on public administration and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 34%
Life in Lake and Peninsula Borough
The coast is about 54 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Lake and Peninsula Borough, which the map shows.
Is Lake and Peninsula Borough growing, and who is moving in?
Lake and Peninsula Borough has lost about 20% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Anchorage, AK.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lake and 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 Lake and Peninsula Borough, month by month
Lake and Peninsula Borough sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 66 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 20° | 13° |
| April | 43° | 35° | 26° |
| July | 66° | 57° | 50° |
| October | 46° | 39° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Lake and Peninsula Borough
The nearest airport, King Salmon, is about 17 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 Lake and Peninsula Borough
Schools across Lake and Peninsula Borough average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Peterson ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Chapman SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Naknek ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Homer High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Kodiak High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Bristol Bay Middle/high SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake and Peninsula Borough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake and 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 Lake and Peninsula Borough against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Lake and Peninsula Borough
Is Lake and Peninsula Borough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake and Peninsula Borough ranks 2,722nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low property taxes, clean air, and heat safety, and lowest on walkability and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake and Peninsula Borough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $237,500. The overall cost of living runs about 33% above the national average. Set against a $65,625 median income, cost of living beats 3% of counties.
Is Lake and Peninsula Borough safe?
Lake and Peninsula Borough is safer than 0% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,885 per resident a year.
Compare Lake and Peninsula Borough with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake and Peninsula Borough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake and 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.
Lake and Peninsula Borough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake and Peninsula Borough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake and Peninsula Borough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake and Peninsula Borough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake and Peninsula Borough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake and 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.