What better place to settle down after tackling the last frontier of work than the Last Frontier state? If you like endless summer nights, Alaska is the best state to retire in.
Alaska is about as far away from the ever-popular retiree state of Florida as you can get. But it still has good places to retire.
The wildlife on display in Alaska is unbeatable between bears, moose, caribou, and countless other creatures. With over 100 state parks, Denali National Park, Glacier Bay, you’ll never be left wondering what to do with your free time.
We limited our analysis to cities with 1,000 people to find the best places to retire in Alaska. Then we compared data from the Census, the FBI’s Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights. We ranked each of the 21 cities by metrics like safety, affordability, access to activities and airports, and median age.
If living among the cold beauty of glaciers and fjords while chowing down on some reindeer sausage and wild berry cobbler sounds like an excellent way to spend your retirement, read on.
$993 median rent · $63,750 median income · #1 cheapest rent in Alaska
The City and Borough of Wrangell is a borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census the population was 2,369. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Borough on May 30, 2008, Wrangell was previously a city in the Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area.
The primary industry of the city is fishing, and it is a tourist destination. The former large wood processing factory in Wrangell closed down some time ago.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,137 median rent · $67,778 median income · #5 cheapest rent in Alaska
$1,280 median rent · $89,028 median income · #11 cheapest rent in Alaska
$1,125 median rent · $72,201 median income · #3 cheapest rent in Alaska
Located in
Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska
Palmer is a city in and the borough seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is part of the Anchorage Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 5,937.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,200 median rent · $85,132 median income · #8 cheapest rent in Alaska
Cordova is a small town located near the mouth of the Copper River in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska, United States, at the head of Orca Inlet on the east side of Prince William Sound. The population was 2,239 at the 2010 census. Cordova was named Puerto Cordova by Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgo in 1790. No roads connect Cordova to other Alaskan towns, so a plane or ferry is required to travel there. In the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 1989, an oil tanker ran aground northwest of Cordova, heavily damaging ecology and fishing.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,132 median rent · $85,481 median income · #4 cheapest rent in Alaska
Seward is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2014 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 2,528. It was named after William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. In 1867, he fought for the U.S. purchase of Alaska which he finally negotiated to acquire from Russia.
Mile 0 of the historic Iditarod Trail is at Seward. In the early 1900s the trail was blazed in order to transport people and goods to and from the port of Seward to interior Alaska.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,020 median rent · $56,280 median income · #2 cheapest rent in Alaska
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,138 median rent · $87,083 median income · #6 cheapest rent in Alaska
Located in
Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska
Kenai is a city in the Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 7,100 as of the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,238 median rent · $74,449 median income · #10 cheapest rent in Alaska
Located in
Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska
Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is two hundred and eighteen miles southwest of Anchorage. According to the 2010 Census, the population is 5,003. Long known as The “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World.” Homer is also nicknamed “the end of the road,” and more recently, “the cosmic hamlet by the sea.”
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$1,481 median rent · $99,271 median income · #16 cheapest rent in Alaska
Valdez is a city in Valdez-Cordova Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to the 2010 US Census, the population of the city is 3,976. The city was named in 1790 after the Spanish Navy Minister Antonio Valds y Fernndez Bazn. A former Gold Rush town, it is located at the head of a fjord on the eastern side of Prince William Sound. The port did not flourish until after the road link to Fairbanks was constructed in 1899. It suffered huge damage during the 1964 Alaska earthquake, and is located near the site of the disastrous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill. Today it is one of the most important ports in Alaska, a commercial fishing port as well as a freight terminal.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Alaska’s statewide median.
Alaska statewide median: $92,788
Alaska statewide median: $387,636
On the map
Where to retire in Alaska
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In the Last Frontier for 2026
To create our ranking of the best places in Alaska to retire, we used Saturday Night Science. We analyzed Census data to find all places in the Last Frontier — 333 cities and towns.
We then narrowed it down to places with at least 1,000 people that weren’t townships. This left us with 21 places from across the state.
For these 21, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI’s Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:
- Low cost of living as measured by rent
- Low crime
- Things to do (Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in town)
- Nice weather
- Distance to the closest international airport
- Other retirees (High median age)
We then ranked each of these places for each criterion from one to 21, with the lowest number being the best.
Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Wrangell, with the lowest average rank, was crowned the best of the best, a place for you to start your second career.
The report has been updated for 2026. This list reflects our eleventh time ranking the best places to retire in Alaska.
The full plate
Best Places To Retire In Alaska
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Retire Score | Population | Median Income | Average Home Prices | Median Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wrangell | 4.10 | 2,088 | $63,750 | $304,373 | $993 |
| 2 | Craig | 6.00 | 1,131 | $67,778 | $317,995 | $1,137 |
| 3 | Skagway | 7.00 | 1,174 | $89,028 | $468,480 | $1,280 |
| 4 | Palmer | 8.00 | 6,268 | $72,201 | $429,396 | $1,125 |
| 5 | Cordova | 8.00 | 2,453 | $85,132 | $364,254 | $1,200 |
| 6 | Seward | 8.40 | 2,794 | $85,481 | $381,100 | $1,132 |
| 7 | Soldotna | 9.00 | 4,485 | $56,280 | $356,405 | $1,020 |
| 8 | Kenai | 10.30 | 7,641 | $87,083 | $319,496 | $1,138 |
| 9 | Homer | 10.50 | 5,877 | $74,449 | $415,050 | $1,238 |
| 10 | Valdez | 10.60 | 3,847 | $99,271 | $336,643 | $1,481 |
| 11 | Sitka | 10.80 | 8,368 | $101,727 | $492,286 | $1,341 |
| 12 | Dillingham | 10.80 | 2,109 | $101,200 | $338,206 | $1,228 |
| 13 | Kodiak | 11.40 | 5,447 | $90,292 | $437,300 | $1,571 |
| 14 | Ketchikan | 11.80 | 8,078 | $85,275 | $397,251 | $1,417 |
| 15 | Wasilla | 12.20 | 9,720 | $67,234 | $416,650 | $1,153 |
| 16 | Juneau | 12.30 | 31,794 | $101,661 | $470,456 | $1,444 |
| 17 | Unalaska | 12.40 | 4,556 | $131,964 | $507,914 | $2,034 |
| 18 | North Pole | 14.80 | 2,370 | $92,273 | $324,190 | $1,304 |
| 19 | Fairbanks | 15.40 | 32,083 | $73,534 | $296,929 | $1,496 |
| 20 | Nome | 17.80 | 3,653 | $113,646 | $392,029 | $1,633 |
| 21 | Bethel | 19.40 | 6,312 | $117,255 | $395,654 | $1,678 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, FBI UCR, OpenFlights. 21 cities with more than 1,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Maybe You’re Not Ready To Retire In Alaska Yet…
So there you have it, the best place to retire in Alaska goes to Wrangell.
The best places to retire in Alaska are Wrangell, Craig, Skagway, Palmer, Cordova, Seward, Soldotna, Kenai, Homer, and Valdez.
If you’re not ready to hang up your office apparel yet, then these places might be up your alley.
