Best PlacesMountain View, Anchorage, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mountain View, Anchorage, 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.
Mountain View, Anchorage ranks 4,882nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mountain View, Anchorage
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.
Mountain View, Anchorage's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mountain View, Anchorage ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- Short commute17.9 minutes each way, better than 90% of neighborhoods
Where Mountain View, Anchorage ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- School gradeD−, better than only 9% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Mountain View, Anchorage
A household needs to earn about $96,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mountain View, Anchorage home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $44,370, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Mountain View, Anchorage's effective rate of 1.42%, 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 Mountain View, Anchorage
Mountain View, Anchorage runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mountain View, Anchorage.
Who works in Mountain View, Anchorage, and how
Work in Mountain View, Anchorage centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Mountain View, Anchorage
Mountain View, Anchorage has more parkland per resident than 85% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 5 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Mountain View, Anchorage and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mountain View, Anchorage, month by month
Mountain View, Anchorage sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 69 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 17° | 9° |
| April | 48° | 39° | 29° |
| July | 69° | 60° | 53° |
| October | 45° | 37° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Mountain View, Anchorage
The nearest airport, Merrill Field, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 7 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mountain View, Anchorage
Schools across Mountain View, Anchorage average a D−, better than 9% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Orion Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Airport Heights ElementaryD · 20% proficient
- Wonder Park ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Middle School Of ScienceD+ · 25% proficient
- Clark Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Bettye Davis East Anchorage High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Bartlett High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mountain View, Anchorage school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mountain View, Anchorage 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 Mountain View, Anchorage against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Mountain View, Anchorage
Is Mountain View, Anchorage a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mountain View, Anchorage ranks 4,882nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on heat safety, low taxes, and clean air, and lowest on cell coverage 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 Mountain View, Anchorage expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $339,729. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $44,370 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Mountain View, Anchorage safe?
Mountain View, Anchorage is safer than 32% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $941 per resident a year.
Compare Mountain View, Anchorage with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mountain View, Anchorage. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mountain View, Anchorage 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.
Mountain View, Anchorage detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mountain View, Anchorage: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mountain View, Anchorage: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mountain View, Anchorage: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mountain View, Anchorage: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mountain View, Anchorage 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.