Best PlacesNelson Lagoon, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nelson Lagoon, 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.
Nelson Lagoon ranks 30,011th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Nelson Lagoon
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.
Nelson Lagoon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nelson Lagoon ranks high
- Short commute5.6 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
Where Nelson Lagoon ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nelson Lagoon
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nelson Lagoon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,678, 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 a national 0.90% effective rate, since no local rate is published, 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 Nelson Lagoon
Nelson Lagoon's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Nelson Lagoon.
Who works in Nelson Lagoon, and how
Work in Nelson Lagoon centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 43%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 51%
Life in Nelson Lagoon
The coast is about 54 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Nelson Lagoon, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Nelson Lagoon, month by month
Nelson Lagoon sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 57 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 25. No month averages between 55 and 75 degrees.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 30° | 25° |
| April | 41° | 36° | 32° |
| July | 57° | 52° | 48° |
| October | 48° | 44° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Nelson Lagoon
The nearest airport, Sand Point, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 539 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nelson Lagoon
Schools across Nelson Lagoon average a C+, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eagle's View Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Dillingham ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
- Naknek ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Unalaska Jr/sr High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Dillingham Middle/high SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Bristol Bay Middle/high SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nelson Lagoon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nelson Lagoon 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 Nelson Lagoon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nelson Lagoon
Is Nelson Lagoon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nelson Lagoon ranks 30,011th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, heat safety, and low property taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nelson Lagoon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $104,100. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $61,678 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Nelson Lagoon safe?
Nelson Lagoon is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,187 per resident a year.
Compare Nelson Lagoon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nelson Lagoon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nelson Lagoon 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.
Nelson Lagoon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nelson Lagoon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nelson Lagoon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nelson Lagoon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nelson Lagoon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nelson Lagoon 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.