Best PlacesWrangell City and Borough, AK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wrangell City and Borough, 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.
Wrangell City and Borough ranks 1,003rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wrangell City and Borough
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.
Wrangell City and Borough's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wrangell City and Borough ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Short commute8.5 minutes each way, better than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 99% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of counties
Where Wrangell City and Borough ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wrangell City and Borough
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wrangell City and Borough home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,555, 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 Wrangell City and Borough's effective rate of 0.45%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wrangell City and Borough
Wrangell City and Borough 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 Wrangell City and Borough.
Who works in Wrangell City and Borough, and how
Work in Wrangell City and Borough centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Wrangell City and Borough
The coast is about 7 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Wrangell City and Borough, which the map shows.
Is Wrangell City and Borough growing, and who is moving in?
Wrangell City and Borough has lost about 15% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Anchorage, AK.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wrangell City and Borough go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wrangell City and Borough, month by month
Wrangell City and Borough sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 66 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs June through August.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 35° | 31° |
| April | 51° | 44° | 37° |
| July | 66° | 58° | 53° |
| October | 51° | 45° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Wrangell City and Borough
The nearest airport, Wrangell, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Ted Stevens Anchorage International, about 708 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wrangell City and Borough
Schools across Wrangell City and Borough average a C+, better than 58% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Evergreen ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stikine Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Wrangell High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wrangell City and Borough school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wrangell City and Borough 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 Wrangell City and Borough against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Wrangell City and Borough
Is Wrangell City and Borough a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wrangell City and Borough ranks 1,003rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, short commutes, and low taxes, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay 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 Wrangell City and Borough expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $296,400. The overall cost of living runs about 35% above the national average. Set against a $64,555 median income, cost of living beats 1% of counties.
Is Wrangell City and Borough safe?
Yes, Wrangell City and Borough is safer than 58% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $618 per resident a year.
Compare Wrangell City and Borough with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wrangell City and Borough. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wrangell City and Borough 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.
Wrangell City and Borough detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wrangell City and Borough: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wrangell City and Borough: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wrangell City and Borough: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wrangell City and Borough: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wrangell City and Borough 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.