Best PlacesMeadow Lakes, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Meadow Lakes, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Meadow Lakes ranks 25,406th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Meadow Lakes
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.
Meadow Lakes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Meadow Lakes ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 111 pleasant days a year, better than 75% of towns
Where Meadow Lakes ranks low
- Short commute36.9 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,157 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Meadow Lakes
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Meadow Lakes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $79,724; 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 Meadow Lakes' effective rate of 1.00%, 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 Meadow Lakes
Meadow Lakes runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Meadow Lakes.
Who works in Meadow Lakes, and how
Work in Meadow Lakes centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Meadow Lakes
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Meadow Lakes, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Meadow Lakes, month by month
Meadow Lakes sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 70 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 | 49° | 39° | 28° |
| July | 70° | 60° | 50° |
| October | 46° | 38° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Meadow Lakes
The nearest airport, Merrill Field, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 32 miles away.
The best schools in and around Meadow Lakes
Schools across Meadow Lakes average a C−, better than 21% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- John Shaw ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Iditarod ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Big Lake ElementaryC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Teeland Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Wasilla Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Houston High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Wasilla High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Meadow Lakes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Meadow Lakes 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 Meadow Lakes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Meadow Lakes
Is Meadow Lakes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Meadow Lakes ranks 25,406th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, clean air, and heat safety, and lowest on long commutes and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Meadow Lakes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $321,107. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $79,724 median income, cost of living beats 23% of towns.
Is Meadow Lakes safe?
Yes, Meadow Lakes is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
Compare Meadow Lakes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Meadow Lakes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Meadow Lakes 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.
Meadow Lakes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Meadow Lakes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Meadow Lakes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Meadow Lakes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Meadow Lakes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Meadow Lakes 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.