The 10 Best Counties To Live In Alaska For 2022


Using science and data, we can tell you which counties in Alaska have the most for people looking to make the move to Alaska.

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Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment: is Alaska a good place?

The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best places to live in Alaska.

Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Last Frontier based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been helping people find the best places to live in America for years.

So, the question becomes, if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Alaska, where would you go? To answer that we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 30 counties in the state.

After the analytic dust settled, we identified the 10 best counties to live in Last Frontier for 2022.

Chugach Census Area is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Alaska. And you might want to avoid Kusilvak Census Area if you can — at least according to the data.

So if you’re thinking of making the move Alaska, we’ve got you covered. Keep on reading for a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in Alaska and the cheapest places to live in Alaska.

The Best Counties To Live In Alaska For 2022

1. Chugach Census Area

Source: Public Domain

Biggest Place:

Population: 6,495
Median Income: $90,776.0 (best)
Median Home Price: $234,300.0 (13th best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.8% (best)
More on Chugach Census Area:

2. Juneau City And Borough

Juneau, AK

Biggest Place: Juneau

Population: 32,099
Median Income: $88,077.0 (2nd best)
Median Home Price: $355,100.0 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.4% (7th best)
More on Juneau City And Borough: PhotosData

3. Anchorage Municipality

Anchorage, AK

Biggest Place: Anchorage

Population: 292,090
Median Income: $84,813.0 (4th best)
Median Home Price: $320,100.0 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.2% (8th best)
More on Anchorage Municipality: PhotosData

4. Sitka City And Borough

Sitka, AK

Biggest Place: Sitka

Population: 8,569
Median Income: $81,708.0 (5th best)
Median Home Price: $365,800.0 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (9th best)
More on Sitka City And Borough: PhotosData

5. Aleutians West Census Area

Unalaska, AK

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Unalaska

Population: 5,708
Median Income: $87,443.0 (3rd best)
Median Home Price: $316,700.0 (5th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (5th best)
More on Aleutians West Census Area: PhotosData

6. Fairbanks North Star Borough

Fairbanks, AK

Biggest Place: Fairbanks

Population: 98,455
Median Income: $76,464.0 (9th best)
Median Home Price: $240,300.0 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 7.1% (14th best)
More on Fairbanks North Star Borough: PhotosData

7. Skagway Municipality

Skagway, AK

Biggest Place: Skagway

Population: 1,300
Median Income: $71,875.0 (14th best)
Median Home Price: $397,200.0 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 10.0% (2best)
More on Skagway Municipality: PhotosData

8. Bristol Bay Borough

Biggest Place: Naknek

Population: 739
Median Income: $79,808.0 (6th best)
Median Home Price: $222,200.0 (16th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.8% (4th best)
More on Bristol Bay Borough: Data

9. Ketchikan Gateway Borough

Ketchikan, AK

Biggest Place: Ketchikan

Population: 13,833
Median Income: $74,678.0 (13th best)
Median Home Price: $299,500.0 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (10th best)
More on Ketchikan Gateway Borough: PhotosData

10. Denali Borough

Biggest Place: Healy

Population: 2,502
Median Income: $76,364.0 (10th best)
Median Home Price: $233,700.0 (14th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.7% (3rd best)
More on Denali Borough: Data

Methodology: How do you determine which Alaska county is the best?

To give you the best county in Alaska, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we need to make some assumptions about what’s a “best county” and what isn’t. And, for reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, don’t take this analysis to court.

With that in mind, we went to two of the best sources of data on the internet; the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent time period.

We paid particular attention to:

  • Violent Crime Rates
  • Property Crime Rates
  • Median Home Values
  • Median Income
  • Unemployment Rates
  • Adult Education Levels
  • Health Insurance Coverage
  • Poverty Rates

We then ranked each county in Alaska across each of the criteria from one to 30, with one being the best.

Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Alaska”.

The result is some of the safest, quiet, and best counties to raise a family in the Last Frontier.

Read on to see why Chugach Census Area is the best county, while Kusilvak Census Area is probably in contention for being the worst county in Alaska.

Summary: The Best Counties In Alaska To Call Home For 2018

It turns out living in Alaska can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?

But now you the know the really good parts and the parts to avoid and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day. And for that, you are welcome.

Here’s a look at the worst counties in Alaska according to the data:

  1. Kusilvak Census Area
  2. Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area
  3. Lake And Peninsula Borough

For more Alaska reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Alaska

County Rank Population Median Income Median Home Price
Chugach Census Area 1 6,495 $90,776.0 $234,300.0
Juneau City And Borough 2 32,099 $88,077.0 $355,100.0
Anchorage Municipality 3 292,090 $84,813.0 $320,100.0
Sitka City And Borough 4 8,569 $81,708.0 $365,800.0
Aleutians West Census Area 5 5,708 $87,443.0 $316,700.0
Fairbanks North Star Borough 6 98,455 $76,464.0 $240,300.0
Skagway Municipality 7 1,300 $71,875.0 $397,200.0
Bristol Bay Borough 8 739 $79,808.0 $222,200.0
Ketchikan Gateway Borough 9 13,833 $74,678.0 $299,500.0
Denali Borough 10 2,502 $76,364.0 $233,700.0
Haines Borough 11 2,547 $65,014.0 $263,900.0
Petersburg Borough 12 3,278 $68,667.0 $228,400.0
Kodiak Island Borough 13 13,383 $79,173.0 $295,100.0
Matanuska-Susitna Borough 14 107,360 $76,118.0 $257,900.0
Kenai Peninsula Borough 15 58,809 $69,245.0 $245,400.0
Wrangell City And Borough 16 2,510 $58,438.0 $221,700.0
Copper River Census Area 17 2,894 $64,745.0 $234,500.0
Yakutat City And Borough 18 597 $59,517.0 $171,200.0
Prince Of Wales-Hyder Census Area 19 6,338 $54,018.0 $191,600.0
North Slope Borough 20 9,375 $79,083.0 $162,500.0
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area 21 6,911 $66,941.0 $179,300.0
Aleutians East Borough 22 3,389 $75,833.0 $136,700.0
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area 23 2,135 $59,926.0 $221,600.0
Dillingham Census Area 24 4,934 $57,436.0 $156,000.0
Northwest Arctic Borough 25 7,709 $63,750.0 $125,800.0
Nome Census Area 26 10,009 $62,843.0 $159,600.0
Bethel Census Area 27 18,263 $54,400.0 $88,700.0
Lake And Peninsula Borough 28 1,156 $48,750.0 $120,500.0
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area 29 5,305 $41,728.0 $74,700.0
Kusilvak Census Area 30 8,298 $37,358.0 $72,800.0
Editor’s Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our ninth time ranking the best counties to live in Alaska.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.