Best PlacesUpper Kalskag, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upper Kalskag, 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.
Upper Kalskag ranks 47,228th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Upper Kalskag
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.
Upper Kalskag's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upper Kalskag ranks high
- Short commute5.9 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- Air qualityBetter 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 Upper Kalskag 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 Upper Kalskag
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upper Kalskag home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $56,818, 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 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 Upper Kalskag
Upper Kalskag 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 Upper Kalskag.
Who works in Upper Kalskag, and how
Work in Upper Kalskag 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 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 35%
Life in Upper Kalskag
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Upper Kalskag.
What the weather is like in Upper Kalskag, month by month
Upper Kalskag sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 66 degrees. January highs sit near 20, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs June and July.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 13° | 6° |
| April | 43° | 33° | 23° |
| July | 66° | 57° | 49° |
| October | 42° | 35° | 28° |
Flying in and out of Upper Kalskag
The nearest airport, Aniak, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 343 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upper Kalskag
Schools across Upper Kalskag average a D, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Auntie Mary Nicoli ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
- Zackar Levi ElementaryF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Aniak Jr/sr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- George Morgan Sr. H.s.F · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upper Kalskag school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upper Kalskag 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 Upper Kalskag against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upper Kalskag
Is Upper Kalskag a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upper Kalskag ranks 47,228th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, 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 Upper Kalskag expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $268,200. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $56,818 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Upper Kalskag safe?
Upper Kalskag is safer than 1% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,534 per resident a year.
Compare Upper Kalskag with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upper Kalskag. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upper Kalskag 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.
Upper Kalskag detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upper Kalskag: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upper Kalskag: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upper Kalskag: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upper Kalskag: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upper Kalskag 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.