Best PlacesMoose Pass, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Moose Pass, 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.
Moose Pass ranks 24,379th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Moose Pass
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.
Moose Pass' strengths and weaknesses
Where Moose Pass ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
Where Moose Pass ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 9 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute38.2 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Moose Pass
A household needs to earn about $95,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Moose Pass home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $115,125, 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 Moose Pass' effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Moose Pass
Moose Pass runs older 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 Moose Pass.
Who works in Moose Pass, and how
Work in Moose Pass centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 21%
Life in Moose Pass
The coast is about 34 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Moose Pass, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Moose Pass, month by month
Moose Pass sees roughly 9 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 65 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 27° | 22° |
| April | 48° | 39° | 31° |
| July | 65° | 56° | 50° |
| October | 49° | 41° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Moose Pass
Ted Stevens Anchorage International sits about 50 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.6 million passengers in 2025, with 71 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Moose Pass
Schools across Moose Pass average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Seward Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- River City AcademyB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Moose Pass school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Moose Pass 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 Moose Pass against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Moose Pass
Is Moose Pass a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Moose Pass ranks 24,379th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, heat safety, and clean air, 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 Moose Pass expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $381,900. The overall cost of living runs about 45% above the national average. Set against a $115,125 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Moose Pass safe?
Moose Pass is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $784 per resident a year.
Compare Moose Pass with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Moose Pass. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Moose Pass 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.
Moose Pass detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Moose Pass: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Moose Pass: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Moose Pass: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Moose Pass: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Moose Pass 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.