Anchorage Municipality, AK

County Profile

288,976 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Anchorage Municipality, AK.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

58out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 44% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 3% of 1,463 counties measured85
Growth1,248th of 1,453 counties measured30
Housing affordabilityTop 38% of 1,462 counties measured76
Climate1,441st of 1,463 counties measured47
Physical resilience1,282nd of 1,463 counties measured26
AccessTop 48% of 1,463 counties measured82
Economic stabilityTop 28% of 1,463 counties measured75
The quick read

Anchorage Municipality ranks in the top 3% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $103,284.

282 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 14% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Rent takes 29% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.9 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
288,976
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$103,284
Top 4% nationally
Density
169/sq mi
1,707.1 sq mi of land
Median age
35.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Anchorage Municipality
Alaska
Metro area
Nearest major airport
ANC
24 mi · Ted Stevens Anchorage Intl
Median home value
$395,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2%, lower than in 84% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.0% over the past year, to 145,082 employed residents.

39% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 90% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $103,284 is higher than in 96% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$64,17063rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$75,23283rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,7022024 ACS 5-Year$103,284Top 4%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$8702024 ACS 5-Year$51,144Top 6%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$80,155Top 9%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year8.7%Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.2 minTop 16%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year38.7%Top 10%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year69.9%14th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026145,082Top 17%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.5%Top 23%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.0%Top 20%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026149,83783rd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year81.4%Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year1.4%91st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 42%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.2%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year10.9%69th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.73.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024103k89k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $103,284 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Anchorage, AK

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses4,990$115,290
Retail Salespersons4,710$37,520
Home Health and Personal Care Aides4,440$39,140
Stockers and Order Fillers4,070$40,310
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,600$33,280
General and Operations Managers3,290$120,030

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

38% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.6 students for every full-time teacher across 89 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
95
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.6
across 89 of them
Math proficiency
37.8%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
41.7%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 95 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
West High SchoolAnchorage School District1,70222.128%35%
Bettye Davis East Anchorage High SchoolAnchorage School District1,63620.417%22%
Service High SchoolAnchorage School District1,51824.526%32%
Bartlett High SchoolAnchorage School District1,43121.717%27%
Dimond High SchoolAnchorage School District1,37321.828%35%
South Anchorage High SchoolAnchorage School District1,23922.947%51%
Romig Middle SchoolAnchorage School District1,13821.137%48%
Family Partnership Correspondence SchoolAnchorage School District1,00884.048%64%
Chugiak High SchoolAnchorage School District92823.239%46%
Nicholas J. Begich Middle SchoolAnchorage School District83021.814%24%
Hanshew Middle SchoolAnchorage School District82234.322%36%
Gruening Middle SchoolAnchorage School District79728.548%53%

42.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Alaska’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 106.8, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Anchorage, AK Metro Area is up 38% over five years, and up 4.5% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $4,982 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.26% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,631, some 10% above the $1,489 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,631 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $65,200 a year, about 63% of the median household income here of $103,284.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,489 a month.

A median home at $395,900 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $134,572, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
106.8

Prices here run about 7% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Anchorage, AK Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
28.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,631
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,489
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$395,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Anchorage Municipality’s median household income of $103,284, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Anchorage, AK Metro Area’s figure2023106.8Bottom 10%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Anchorage, AK Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.5%69th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Anchorage, AK Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+38.1%23rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Anchorage, AK Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+56.4%4th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 31%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year63.9%13th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±9462024 ACS 5-Year120,34892nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,243Bottom 24%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,268Bottom 13%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,631Bottom 21%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$382024 ACS 5-Year$1,489Bottom 8%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,1912024 ACS 5-Year$395,90091st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1282024 ACS 5-Year$4,98296th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,4912024 ACS 5-Year$134,572Top 3%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year1.26%79th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year28.5%Bottom 43%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4112024 ACS 5-Year1,84984th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.5%35th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%44th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±8252024 ACS 5-Year11,75192nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

30/ 100
Ranks 1,248 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has been broadly flat since 2020, at 289,600 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 278 units authorized in 2025, 9% below the prior year.

Federal tax returns show Anchorage Municipality lost about 1.0% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $64,170, below the $75,232 of households that moved out.

At 1.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
282
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.0
Bottom 17% nationally
Year over year
−14%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
26.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024291k288k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
74%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$64,170
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$75,232
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK 1,152 people · 8.5% of arrivals
  2. Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK 462 people · 3.4% of arrivals
  3. Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 406 people · 3.0% of arrivals
  4. Bethel Census Area, AK 262 people · 1.9% of arrivals
  5. Maricopa County, AZ 223 people · 1.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK 1,951 people · 12% of departures
  2. Maricopa County, AZ 464 people · 2.9% of departures
  3. Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK 404 people · 2.5% of departures
  4. Clark County, NV 289 people · 1.8% of departures
  5. King County, WA 287 people · 1.8% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420251k215
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−71%).

Weather & climate

3 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 68°F and January a low of 8°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 14.2 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 24, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ANCHORAGE MERRILL FLD, 19.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year552024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals14.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals8°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals68°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals31991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year242024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
24
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
55
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

26 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, avalanche and tsunami, with earthquake alone responsible for 96% of it.

EarthquakeHigh
AvalancheModerate
TsunamiModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, winter weather, volcanic activity, wildfire, lightning, coastal flooding, cold wave, ice storm, hail, tornado, inland flooding, strong wind, drought, hurricane, heat wave.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Anchorage Municipality records 7.3 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 23.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 56.3 per 100,000 residents in Anchorage Municipality.

Homicide
7.3
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
23.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
56.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
24.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Anchorage Municipality as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Ted Stevens Anchorage Intl at 24 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year94.5%Top 3%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle24 miTop 32%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year3.5%Top 3%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Ted Stevens Anchorage IntlANC24 mi10,865 ft
Fairbanks IntlFAI256 mi11,800 ft
King SalmonAKN308 mi8,900 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
58
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Anchorage Municipality, AK

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.