Best PlacesNorthwest Arctic Borough, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Northwest Arctic Borough, 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.
Northwest Arctic Borough ranks 2,231st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Northwest Arctic Borough
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.
Northwest Arctic Borough's strengths and weaknesses
Where Northwest Arctic Borough ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of counties
- Short commute5.9 minutes each way, better than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
Where Northwest Arctic Borough ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Northwest Arctic Borough
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Northwest Arctic Borough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,356, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Northwest Arctic Borough
Northwest Arctic Borough runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Northwest Arctic Borough.
Who works in Northwest Arctic Borough, and how
Work in Northwest Arctic Borough centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 31%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 60%
Life in Northwest Arctic Borough
The coast is about 39 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Northwest Arctic Borough, which the map shows.
Is Northwest Arctic Borough growing, and who is moving in?
Northwest Arctic Borough has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fairbanks, AK.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Northwest Arctic Borough go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Northwest Arctic Borough, month by month
Northwest Arctic Borough sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 62 degrees. January highs sit near 9, with lows near -6. The comfortable stretch runs July.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9° | 2° | -6° |
| April | 27° | 19° | 9° |
| July | 62° | 56° | 50° |
| October | 35° | 30° | 25° |
Flying in and out of Northwest Arctic Borough
The nearest airport, Robert /Bob/ Curtis Memorial, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 527 miles away.
The best schools in and around Northwest Arctic Borough
Schools across Northwest Arctic Borough average a D, better than 11% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- June Nelson ElementaryF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Kotzebue Middle/high SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Northwest Arctic Borough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Northwest Arctic Borough 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 Northwest Arctic Borough against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Northwest Arctic Borough
Is Northwest Arctic Borough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Northwest Arctic Borough ranks 2,231st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, low property taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on thin health care access and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Northwest Arctic Borough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $188,918. The overall cost of living runs about 55% above the national average. Set against a $80,356 median income, cost of living beats 1% of counties.
Is Northwest Arctic Borough safe?
Northwest Arctic Borough is safer than 2% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,256 per resident a year.
Compare Northwest Arctic Borough with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Northwest Arctic Borough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Northwest Arctic Borough 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.
Northwest Arctic Borough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Northwest Arctic Borough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Northwest Arctic Borough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Northwest Arctic Borough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Northwest Arctic Borough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Northwest Arctic Borough 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.