Best PlacesLazy Mountain, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lazy Mountain, 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.
Lazy Mountain ranks 8,572nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lazy Mountain
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.
Lazy Mountain's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lazy Mountain ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
Where Lazy Mountain ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,157 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lazy Mountain
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lazy Mountain home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,583, 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 Lazy Mountain's effective rate of 0.98%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lazy Mountain
Lazy Mountain'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 Lazy Mountain.
Who works in Lazy Mountain, and how
Work in Lazy Mountain centers on public administration and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Lazy Mountain
The coast is about 30 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Lazy Mountain, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lazy Mountain, month by month
Lazy Mountain sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 71 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 50° | 40° | 29° |
| July | 71° | 60° | 51° |
| October | 46° | 37° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Lazy Mountain
The nearest airport, Merrill Field, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lazy Mountain
Schools across Lazy Mountain average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Butte ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Sutton ElementaryD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Palmer Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Palmer High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lazy Mountain school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lazy Mountain 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 Lazy Mountain against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lazy Mountain
Is Lazy Mountain a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lazy Mountain ranks 8,572nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, heat safety, and clean air, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lazy Mountain expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $345,500. The overall cost of living runs about 19% above the national average. Set against a $99,583 median income, cost of living beats 51% of towns.
Is Lazy Mountain safe?
Yes, Lazy Mountain is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
Compare Lazy Mountain with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lazy Mountain. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lazy Mountain 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.
Lazy Mountain detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lazy Mountain: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lazy Mountain: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lazy Mountain: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lazy Mountain: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lazy Mountain 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.