Best PlacesLake Minchumina, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Minchumina, 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 Minchumina ranks 42,396th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Minchumina
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 Minchumina's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Minchumina ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute8.1 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
Where Lake Minchumina ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Minchumina
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Minchumina home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,021, 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 Lake Minchumina's effective rate of 0.01%, 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 3 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 Minchumina
Lake Minchumina 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 Lake Minchumina.
Who works in Lake Minchumina, and how
Work in Lake Minchumina centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 42%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 36%
Life in Lake Minchumina
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake Minchumina.
What the weather is like in Lake Minchumina, month by month
Lake Minchumina sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 72 degrees. January highs sit near 7, with lows near -10. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7° | -2° | -10° |
| April | 41° | 31° | 19° |
| July | 72° | 61° | 52° |
| October | 37° | 29° | 22° |
Flying in and out of Lake Minchumina
The nearest airport, McGrath, is about 116 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 200 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake Minchumina
Schools across Lake Minchumina average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top high schools
- Distance Learning/corresp. Ctr.A+ · 75% proficient
- Raven SchoolC− · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Minchumina school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Minchumina 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 Minchumina against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Minchumina
Is Lake Minchumina a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Minchumina ranks 42,396th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, low property taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on crime and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Minchumina expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $100,553. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $52,021 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Lake Minchumina safe?
Lake Minchumina is safer than 0% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $2,474 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Minchumina with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Minchumina. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Minchumina 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 Minchumina detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Minchumina: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Minchumina: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Minchumina: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Minchumina: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Minchumina 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.