The 10 Best Small Towns In Alaska For 2026

You’ve seen these lists before. Best places to live in Alaska. Best sururbs 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.

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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

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The 15 Best Small Towns To Live In Alaska For 2026

1. Farmers Loop
2. Seward
3. Bear Creek
4. Farm Loop
5. Goldstream
6. Skagway
7. Kodiak Station
8. North Pole
9. Cordova
10. Nome
11. Haines
12. Butte
13. Diamond Ridge
14. Fritz Creek
15. Unalaska

What’s the best small town in Alaska? Farmers Loop is the best small town in Alaska based on the most recent Census data. If you live in one of these small towns like Farmers Loop, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you–keep reading, and we’ll get to just why these small towns made our list.

For more reading on the Last Frontier check out:

• Best Places To Live In Alaska
• Cheapest Places To Live In Alaska
• Most Dangerous Cities In Alaska

The 15 Best Small Towns In Alaska For 2026

1. Farmers Loop

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 4,954
Median Income: $109,950 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $307,340 (27th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%

2. Seward

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 2,794
Median Income: $85,481 (20th Best)
Median Home Value: $381,099 (8th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%

3. Bear Creek

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,732
Median Income: $95,774 (11th Best)
Median Home Value: $521,204 (1st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.7%

4. Farm Loop

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,894
Median Income: $119,375 (2nd Best)
Median Home Value: $473,752 (3rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 7.3%

5. Goldstream

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,294
Median Income: $103,589 (6th Best)
Median Home Value: $318,105 (24th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%

6. Skagway

Source: Wikipedia User Mike Colvin from Manchester, UK | CC BY 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,174
Median Income: $89,028 (16th Best)
Median Home Value: $468,479 (4th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 9.3%

7. Kodiak Station

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,823
Median Income: $83,750 (23rd Best)
Median Home Value: $0 (41st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

8. North Pole

Source: Wikipedia User Dylan Avery | CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 2,370
Median Income: $92,273 (12th Best)
Median Home Value: $324,190 (21st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.6%

9. Cordova

Source: Wikipedia User FlickreviewR 2 | CC BY 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 2,453
Median Income: $85,132 (21st Best)
Median Home Value: $364,253 (10th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 8.4%

10. Nome

Source: Wikipedia User ra64 from nome, usa | CC BY-SA 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,653
Median Income: $113,646 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $392,029 (6th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 9.0%

11. Haines

Source: Flickr User jerseygal2009 | CC BY-ND 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,757
Median Income: $86,719 (19th Best)
Median Home Value: $327,946 (20th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8%

12. Butte

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 4,085
Median Income: $101,042 (9th Best)
Median Home Value: $411,471 (5th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%

13. Diamond Ridge

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,329
Median Income: $87,500 (18th Best)
Median Home Value: $342,559 (15th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%

14. Fritz Creek

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,383
Median Income: $89,531 (15th Best)
Median Home Value: $377,969 (9th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%

15. Unalaska

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 4,556
Median Income: $131,964 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $507,913 (2nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%

Next 10 Cities

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.

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 15 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.

If you’re curious, here are the worst small towns in Alaska:

1. Susitna North
2. Anchor Point
3. Cohoe

For more Alaska reading, check out:

• Best Places To Raise A Family In Alaska
• Safest Places In Alaska
• Worst Places To Live In Alaska

Best Small Towns In Alaska