Like all states, Alaska has certain places that are going on hard times. These Alaska places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Alaska.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 21 cities in Alaska with more than 2,000 people.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
What’s the poorest city in Alaska? According to the facts, Soldotna is the poorest place in Alaska for 2024.
This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
For more Alaska reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Alaska
- Cheapest Places To Live In Alaska
- Most Dangerous Cities In Alaska
- The poorest states in the US
- The poorest cities in the US
The 10 Poorest Cities In Alaska For 2024
1. Soldotna
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Soldotna, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Alaska thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 4,394 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Alaska and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Wasilla
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Population: 9,267
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $69,534 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 12.9% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,198
More on Wasilla: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The second poorest city in Alaska is Wasilla.
The city ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty and 4th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 2nd highest in the Last Frontier.
3. Wrangell
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Placing as the third poorest city, Wrangell’s median income ranks as the lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 10.09% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Last Frontier.
4. Ketchikan
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Population: 8,168
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 3)
Median Income: $73,512 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 12.9% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,056
More on Ketchikan: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Ketchikan ranks as the fourth poorest place in Alaska.
The town ranks as having the 7th lowest median household income and the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Kenai
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Population: 7,477
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Median Income: $77,335 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.7% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,176
More on Kenai: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The fifth poorest city in Alaska is Kenai.
The city ranks as having the 9th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 2nd highest in Alaska.
Still not the best news for Kenai.
6. Homer
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Population: 5,623
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 2)
Median Income: $69,757 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 12.7% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 713
More on Homer: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Homer ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Last Frontier.
It ranks as having the 6th highest incidence of poverty and the 4th highest unemployment rate.
7. Palmer
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Population: 6,091
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 2)
Median Income: $68,929 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 9.8% (10th highest)
People In Poverty: 598
More on Palmer: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Palmer places as the seventh poorest city in Alaska.
The city of over 6,091 ranks as having the 10th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Fairbanks
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Population: 32,496
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Median Income: $69,914 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 9.7% (11th highest)
People In Poverty: 3,142
More on Fairbanks: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Fairbanks ranks as the eighth poorest city in Alaska.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
9. Kodiak
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Population: 5,584
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Median Income: $76,765 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 9.0% (13th highest)
People In Poverty: 500
More on Kodiak: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Kodiak couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Alaska; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 8th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Kodiak ranks as having the 13th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Alaska.
10. Dillingham
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And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Alaska is Dillingham.
The city of 2,175 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Last Frontier.
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Alaska for 2024
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2018-2022 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 21 places with more than 2,000 people in Alaska, we ranked each place from 1 to 21 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Soldotna, crowned the “Poorest Place In Alaska For 2024”.
This report has been updated for 2024, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Alaska.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Alaska For 2024
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Alaska, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Alaska.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Alaska, according to data:
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Richest: Nome
2nd Richest: Unalaska
3rd Richest: Valdez
For more Alaska reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Alaska
- Safest Places In Alaska
- Worst Places To Live In Alaska
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Alaska
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Alaska
| Rank | City | Population | Poverty Rate | Median Income | People In Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soldotna | 4,394 | 16.4% | $67,365 | 718 |
| 2 | Wasilla | 9,267 | 12.9% | $69,534 | 1,198 |
| 3 | Wrangell | 2,134 | 10.1% | $61,000 | 215 |
| 4 | Ketchikan | 8,168 | 12.9% | $73,512 | 1,056 |
| 5 | Kenai | 7,477 | 15.7% | $77,335 | 1,176 |
| 6 | Homer | 5,623 | 12.7% | $69,757 | 713 |
| 7 | Palmer | 6,091 | 9.8% | $68,929 | 598 |
| 8 | Fairbanks | 32,496 | 9.7% | $69,914 | 3,142 |
| 9 | Kodiak | 5,584 | 9.0% | $76,765 | 500 |
| 10 | Dillingham | 2,175 | 11.2% | $92,578 | 242 |
| 11 | Kotzebue | 3,088 | 13.2% | $101,071 | 408 |
| 12 | Bethel | 6,312 | 12.6% | $100,852 | 797 |
| 13 | Seward | 2,768 | 6.1% | $77,850 | 168 |
| 14 | Anchorage | 290,674 | 9.6% | $95,731 | 28,020 |
| 15 | North Pole | 2,816 | 6.8% | $91,583 | 191 |
| 16 | Juneau | 32,108 | 6.9% | $95,711 | 2,215 |
| 17 | Sitka | 8,462 | 6.9% | $95,261 | 583 |
| 18 | Cordova | 2,507 | 2.5% | $79,526 | 62 |
| 19 | Valdez | 3,935 | 4.3% | $89,255 | 168 |
| 20 | Unalaska | 4,342 | 8.0% | $104,706 | 347 |
| 21 | Nome | 3,710 | 6.1% | $103,542 | 227 |
