You’ve seen these lists before. Best places to live in Alaska. Best suburbs in Alaska. Best counties in Alaska.
Etc., etc., etc.
But they all focus on major cities and towns in the Last Frontier, and no one pays attention to the little guy.
Well, that’s all about to change as we put together a list of the superb small towns in Alaska based on numbers–not opinions or hearsay.
We’ll dive right into our methodology in the next section, but first, we thought you might want to know which places in Alaska ranked the best based on Saturday Night Science.
$109,950 median income · 2.8% unemployment
$85,481 median income · 2.3% unemployment
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
$95,774 median income · 6.7% unemployment
$119,375 median income · 7.3% unemployment
$103,589 median income · 3.7% unemployment
$89,028 median income · 9.3% unemployment
$83,750 median income · 0.0% unemployment
$92,273 median income · 4.6% unemployment
The city is a summertime attraction for tourists visiting nearby Fairbanks and, due to its location on the Richardson Highway, those traveling to and from the Alaska Highway and Valdez. North Pole is home to two oil refineries, the town’s major industry aside from tourism. The larger refinery, operated by Flint Hills Resources, is a major source of jet fuel for Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Tanker car traffic on the Alaska Railroad, entering and leaving the refinery, frequently bisects the city.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$85,132 median income · 8.4% unemployment
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
$113,646 median income · 9.0% unemployment
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. In 2014 the population was estimated at 3,788, a rise from the 3,598 recorded in the 2010 Census. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the most-populous city in Alaska. Nome lies within the region of the Bering Straits Native Corporation, which is headquartered in Nome.
The city of Nome claims to be home to the world’s largest gold pan, although this claim has been disputed by the Canadian city of Quesnel, British Columbia.
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
Alaska statewide median: 5.9%
On the map
Where Alaska’s best small towns are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Coolest Towns In Alaska
We threw a lot of criteria at this report to get the best, most complete results of the best small towns in Alaska possible.
Using the most recent data from the Census’s 2020-2024 American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Saturday Night Science, this is the criteria we used:
- Population Density (Higher is better)
- Lowest Unemployment Rates
- Housing costs (Higher is better. More demand.)
- Adjusted Median Income (Higher is better)
- Highly Educated Adults (Higher is better)
- Insurance Rates (Higher is better)
- Commute Times (Lower is better)
We looked at places with populations lower than 5,000 people and greater than 1,000, of which there were many – 42 to be exact.
We then ranked each place in each category with scores from 1 to 42, averaged them out, and the lowest scores went to our Best Small Towns in Alaska. Top of that list — Farmers Loop.
This is our eleventh time ranking the best small places to live in Alaska.
The full plate
Best Small Towns In Alaska
Click any column to sort. Search by town name.
| Rank | Town | Population | Median Income | Median Home Value | Unemployment Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farmers Loop | 4,954 | $109,950 | $307,340 | 2.8% |
| 2 | Seward | 2,794 | $85,481 | $381,100 | 2.3% |
| 3 | Bear Creek | 1,732 | $95,774 | $521,205 | 6.7% |
| 4 | Farm Loop | 2,894 | $119,375 | $473,752 | 7.3% |
| 5 | Goldstream | 3,294 | $103,589 | $318,105 | 3.7% |
| 6 | Skagway | 1,174 | $89,028 | $468,480 | 9.3% |
| 7 | Kodiak Station | 1,823 | $83,750 | $0 | 0.0% |
| 8 | North Pole | 2,370 | $92,273 | $324,190 | 4.6% |
| 9 | Cordova | 2,453 | $85,132 | $364,254 | 8.4% |
| 10 | Nome | 3,653 | $113,646 | $392,029 | 9.0% |
| 11 | Haines | 1,757 | $86,719 | $327,947 | 5.8% |
| 12 | Butte | 4,085 | $101,042 | $411,471 | 3.6% |
| 13 | Diamond Ridge | 1,329 | $87,500 | $342,559 | 2.3% |
| 14 | Fritz Creek | 2,383 | $89,531 | $377,969 | 4.2% |
| 15 | Unalaska | 4,556 | $131,964 | $507,914 | 4.3% |
| 16 | Delta Junction | 1,217 | $84,271 | $321,719 | 1.9% |
| 17 | Craig | 1,131 | $67,778 | $317,995 | 4.6% |
| 18 | Eielson AFB | 3,155 | $68,199 | $0 | 14.0% |
| 19 | Dillingham | 2,109 | $101,200 | $338,206 | 6.1% |
| 20 | Lazy Mountain | 1,459 | $101,667 | $387,526 | 6.2% |
| 21 | Valdez | 3,847 | $99,271 | $336,643 | 10.1% |
| 22 | Ridgeway | 1,997 | $90,391 | $333,813 | 22.6% |
| 23 | Kotzebue | 2,984 | $110,357 | $316,787 | 6.2% |
| 24 | Soldotna | 4,485 | $56,280 | $356,405 | 5.9% |
| 25 | Ester | 2,752 | $53,272 | $280,539 | 5.5% |
| 26 | Deltana | 1,997 | $91,923 | $357,209 | 5.0% |
| 27 | Metlakatla | 1,235 | $72,279 | $184,097 | 7.6% |
| 28 | Wrangell | 2,088 | $63,750 | $304,373 | 4.3% |
| 29 | Tok | 1,649 | $64,063 | $246,707 | 5.8% |
| 30 | Big Lake | 3,585 | $81,406 | $328,101 | 3.1% |
| 31 | Salamatof | 1,149 | $66,500 | $355,122 | 34.0% |
| 32 | Sand Point | 1,064 | $81,563 | $207,713 | 13.5% |
| 33 | Quinhagak | 1,311 | $50,208 | $103,692 | 22.2% |
| 34 | Funny River | 1,081 | $67,656 | $274,607 | 0.0% |
| 35 | Sutton-Alpine | 1,598 | $75,119 | $259,449 | 9.0% |
| 36 | Willow | 1,815 | $89,000 | $245,886 | 6.6% |
| 37 | Nikiski | 4,773 | $65,863 | $343,369 | 6.1% |
| 38 | King Cove | 1,352 | $61,645 | $109,623 | 9.0% |
| 39 | Houston | 1,834 | $73,015 | $324,037 | 12.0% |
| 40 | Cohoe | 1,598 | $63,500 | $266,479 | 11.2% |
| 41 | Anchor Point | 2,243 | $63,000 | $252,066 | 8.1% |
| 42 | Susitna North | 1,566 | $55,357 | $283,175 | 11.3% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 via Saturday Night Science. 42 Alaska towns between 1,000 and 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Science Can Tackle Any Issue, Even Small Ones
We said it once, and we’ll say it again — this list: it’s just science. We did the research, crunched the numbers, and it turns out these small towns in Alaska are the best in which to live.
And who can argue with that?
The best small towns in Alaska are Farmers Loop, Seward, Bear Creek, Farm Loop, Goldstream, Skagway, Kodiak Station, North Pole, Cordova, and Nome. Not sold on Alaska? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
