Best PlacesOld Harbor, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Old Harbor, 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.
Old Harbor ranks 44,765th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Old Harbor
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.
Old Harbor's strengths and weaknesses
Where Old Harbor ranks high
- Short commute2.2 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
Where Old Harbor ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 35 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Old Harbor
A household needs to earn about $18,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Old Harbor home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,268, 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 Old Harbor's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Old Harbor
Old Harbor runs younger 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 Old Harbor.
Who works in Old Harbor, and how
Work in Old Harbor centers on manufacturing and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 45%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 53%
Life in Old Harbor
The coast is about 6 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Old Harbor, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Old Harbor, month by month
Old Harbor sees roughly 35 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 64 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 46° | 39° | 32° |
| July | 64° | 57° | 50° |
| October | 51° | 44° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Old Harbor
The nearest airport, Larsen Bay, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 298 miles away.
The best schools in and around Old Harbor
Schools across Old Harbor average a B+, better than 73% of towns.
Top high schools
- AkteachA− · 50% proficient
- Old Harbor SchoolD · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Old Harbor school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Old Harbor 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 Old Harbor against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Old Harbor
Is Old Harbor a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Old Harbor ranks 44,765th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and heat safety, 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 Old Harbor expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $69,600. The overall cost of living runs about 29% above the national average. Set against a $45,268 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Old Harbor safe?
Old Harbor is safer than 1% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,614 per resident a year.
Compare Old Harbor with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Old Harbor. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Old Harbor 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.
Old Harbor detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Old Harbor: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Old Harbor: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Old Harbor: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Old Harbor: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Old Harbor 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.