The 10 Cheapest Anchorage, AK Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


We used science and data to determine which neighborhoods in Anchorage are the cheapest of the cheap.

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Everything else equal, I think we can all agree that living in a cheaper place is better than living in a more expensive place.

I'd much rather pay $500/mo in rent than $1,000. And I'd rather pay $2 for coffee than $5.

And while every neighbhorhood in Anchorage might be more expensive than living in rural Alaska, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.

So what exactly are those Anchorage neighborhoods where your dollar goes a little further -- you can get that one bedroom instead of the studio?

Instead of relying on public opinion and speculation, we wanted to get the facts straight and find out which neighborhoods in Anchorage are the cheapest.

What's the cheapest neighborhood to live in Anchorage for 2022? According to the most recent census data, Turnagain Arm looks to be the cheaptest Anchorage neighborhood to live in.

At this point we should make it clear that you do get what you pay for -- some of these neighborhoods might not be the best places to live in Anchorage. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates in return for more space and cheaper groceries.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Anchorage that deserve a little bragging rights or maybe you're interested in the worst neighborhoods in Anchorage.

Once you're done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of every neighborhood we looked at from cheapest to most expensive.

For more Alaska reading, check out:

The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Anchorage For 2022

1. Turnagain Arm

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 655
Cost Of Living Index: 113 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.007 (7th cheapest)
More on Turnagain Arm: Homes For Sale | Data

2. Government Hill

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,302
Cost Of Living Index: 106 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (12th cheapest)
More on Government Hill: Homes For Sale | Data

3. Midtown

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 4,956
Cost Of Living Index: 105 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (20th cheapest)
More on Midtown: Homes For Sale | Data

4. Girdwood

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 596
Cost Of Living Index: 124 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.5 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.006 (5th cheapest)
More on Girdwood: Homes For Sale | Data

5. Birchwood

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 1,956
Cost Of Living Index: 130 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.5 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.006 (4th cheapest)
More on Birchwood: Homes For Sale | Data

6. Northeast

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 28,773
Cost Of Living Index: 118 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.8 (11th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (16th cheapest)
More on Northeast: Homes For Sale | Data

7. North Star

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 3,429
Cost Of Living Index: 118 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.8 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (18th cheapest)
More on North Star: Homes For Sale | Data

8. Mountain View

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 6,816
Cost Of Living Index: 107 (3rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (33rd cheapest)
More on Mountain View: Homes For Sale | Data

9. Russian Jack Park

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 11,666
Cost Of Living Index: 112 (5th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.9 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (23rd cheapest)
More on Russian Jack Park: Homes For Sale | Data

10. Huffman-O'malley

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 10,534
Cost Of Living Index: 140 (28th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.8 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.005 (3rd cheapest)
More on Huffman-O'malley: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Anchorage Hoods In 2022

In order to rank the cheapest places to live in Anchorage, we had to determine what criteria defines "cheap".

Using census and extrapolated BLS data, we arrived at the following set of criteria:

  • Overall Cost Of Living
  • Rent To Income Ratio
  • Median Home Value To Income Ratio

We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 35 in each category, where 1 was the cheapest.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a cheap neighborhood index.

And finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest cheapest neighborhood index the "Cheapest City Neighborhood In Anchorage." We're lookin' at you, Turnagain Arm.

Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the cheapest places Anchorage. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city from cheapest to most expensive.

Summary: Lowest Cost Places To Live In Anchorage

If you're measuring the neighborhoods in Anchorage where prices are low and it's cheap to live, this is an accurate list.

As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Anchorage aren't all cheap. Hillside East takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Anchorage.

We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.

For more Alaska reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Anchorage For 2022

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 Turnagain Arm 113
2 Government Hill 106
3 Midtown 105
4 Girdwood 124
5 Birchwood 130
6 Northeast 118
7 North Star 118
8 Mountain View 107
9 Russian Jack Park 112
10 Huffman-O'malley 140
11 Abbott Loop 125
12 University Area 121
13 Eagle River 135
14 Taku-Campbell 123
15 Bayshore-Klatt 131
16 Rogers Park 127
17 Scenic Foothills 130
18 Mid-Hillside 158
19 Tudor Area 131
20 Sand Lake 130
21 Spenard 116
22 Campbell Park 124
23 Chugiak 131
24 Old Seward-Oceanview 138
25 Airport Heights 120
26 Bear Valley 159
27 Rabbit Creek 153
28 Basher 129
29 Downtown 109
30 Fairview 115
31 Turnagain 133
32 South Fork 154
33 Eagle River Valley 143
34 South Addition 146
35 Hillside East 183

Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our third time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Anchorage.

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.

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