Best PlacesScow Bay, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Scow Bay, 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.
Scow Bay ranks 16,167th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Scow Bay
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.
Scow Bay's strengths and weaknesses
Where Scow Bay ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute8.9 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
Where Scow Bay ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 32 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Scow Bay
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scow Bay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,944, 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 Scow Bay's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Scow Bay
Scow Bay 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 Scow Bay.
Who works in Scow Bay, and how
Work in Scow Bay centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 63%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 27%
Life in Scow Bay
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Scow Bay.
What the weather is like in Scow Bay, month by month
Scow Bay sees roughly 32 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 64 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs July and August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 33° | 28° |
| April | 50° | 42° | 34° |
| July | 64° | 57° | 51° |
| October | 50° | 43° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Scow Bay
The nearest airport, Petersburg James A Johnson, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 673 miles away.
The best schools in and around Scow Bay
Schools across Scow Bay average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rae C. Stedman ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mitkof Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Petersburg High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scow Bay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scow Bay 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 Scow Bay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Scow Bay
Is Scow Bay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scow Bay ranks 16,167th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, short commutes, and low taxes, and lowest on the weather and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Scow Bay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,300. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $81,944 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Scow Bay safe?
Scow Bay is safer than 7% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $974 per resident a year.
Compare Scow Bay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scow Bay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scow Bay 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.
Scow Bay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scow Bay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scow Bay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scow Bay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scow Bay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scow Bay 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.