Best PlacesUnalaska, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Unalaska, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Unalaska ranks 8,311th 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 Unalaska
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.
Unalaska's strengths and weaknesses
Where Unalaska ranks high
- Short commute6.4 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
Where Unalaska ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 25 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Unalaska
A household needs to earn about $126,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Unalaska home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $146,528, 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 Unalaska's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Unalaska
Unalaska 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 Unalaska.
Who works in Unalaska, and how
Work in Unalaska centers on manufacturing and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 32%
Life in Unalaska
The coast is about 7 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Unalaska, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Unalaska, month by month
Unalaska sees roughly 25 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 59 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 30. No month averages between 55 and 75 degrees.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 35° | 30° |
| April | 44° | 38° | 34° |
| July | 59° | 52° | 48° |
| October | 50° | 45° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Unalaska
The nearest airport, Unalaska, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 789 miles away.
The best schools in and around Unalaska
Schools across Unalaska average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eagle's View Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Unalaska Jr/sr High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Unalaska school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Unalaska 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 Unalaska against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Unalaska
Is Unalaska a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Unalaska ranks 8,311th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, heat safety, and clean air, and lowest on the weather 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 Unalaska expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $484,500. The overall cost of living runs about 75% above the national average. Set against a $146,528 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Unalaska safe?
Unalaska is safer than 27% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $656 per resident a year.
Compare Unalaska with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Unalaska. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Unalaska 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.
Unalaska detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Unalaska: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Unalaska: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Unalaska: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Unalaska: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Unalaska 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.