Best PlacesSlana, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Slana, 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.
Slana ranks 38,473rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Slana
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.
Slana's strengths and weaknesses
Where Slana ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
Where Slana ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Slana
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Slana home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,688, 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 Slana's effective rate of 0.04%, 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 Slana
Slana 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 Slana.
Who works in Slana, and how
Work in Slana centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Slana
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Slana.
What the weather is like in Slana, month by month
Slana sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 67 degrees. January highs sit near 12, with lows near -6. The comfortable stretch runs July.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12° | 2° | -6° |
| April | 37° | 27° | 16° |
| July | 67° | 56° | 45° |
| October | 36° | 26° | 19° |
Flying in and out of Slana
The nearest airport, Valdez Pioneer Field, is about 133 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 228 miles away.
The best schools in and around Slana
Schools across Slana average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Glennallen ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Tanacross SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Glennallen Jr/sr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Slana school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Slana 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 Slana against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Slana
Is Slana a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Slana ranks 38,473rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, heat safety, and low taxes, and lowest on crime 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 Slana expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,500. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $79,688 median income, cost of living beats 22% of towns.
Is Slana safe?
Slana is safer than 2% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,406 per resident a year.
Compare Slana with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Slana. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Slana 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.
Slana detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Slana: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Slana: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Slana: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Slana: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Slana 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.