Best PlacesStony River, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stony River, 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.
Stony River ranks 47,451st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stony River
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.
Stony River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stony River ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute6.0 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
Where Stony River ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stony River
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stony River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $56,406, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 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 Stony River
Stony River 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 Stony River.
Who works in Stony River, and how
Work in Stony River centers on public administration and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 32%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 35%
Life in Stony River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stony River.
What the weather is like in Stony River, month by month
Stony River sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 69 degrees. January highs sit near 12, with lows near -6. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12° | 3° | -6° |
| April | 44° | 33° | 22° |
| July | 69° | 59° | 50° |
| October | 41° | 33° | 26° |
Flying in and out of Stony River
The nearest airport, McGrath, is about 83 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 220 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stony River
Schools across Stony River average a D, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Auntie Mary Nicoli ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Aniak Jr/sr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stony River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stony River 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 Stony River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stony River
Is Stony River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stony River ranks 47,451st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, short commutes, and low property taxes, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stony River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $257,354. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $56,406 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Stony River safe?
Stony River is safer than 1% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,597 per resident a year.
Compare Stony River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stony River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stony River 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.
Stony River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stony River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stony River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stony River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stony River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stony River 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.