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 2026.
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 2026
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 4,485 people averages the lowest median household income in Alaska and the 2nd 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: 9,720
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $67,234 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.5% (highest)
People In Poverty: 1,703
More on Wasilla: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
The second poorest city in Alaska is Wasilla.
The city ranks as having the highest incidence of poverty and 3rd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 7th highest in the Last Frontier.
3. Wrangell
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Placing as the third poorest city, Wrangell’s median income ranks as the 2nd 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 12.09% 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. Palmer
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Population: 6,268
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $72,201 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 13.0% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 817
More on Palmer: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Palmer ranks as the fourth poorest place in Alaska.
The town ranks as having the 4th lowest median household income and the 5th 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. Homer
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Population: 5,877
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Income: $74,449 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 11.8% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 694
More on Homer: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
The fifth poorest city in Alaska is Homer.
The city ranks as having the 6th 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 7th highest in Alaska.
Still not the best news for Homer.
6. Kenai
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Population: 7,641
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Median Income: $87,083 (10th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 13.2% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,008
More on Kenai: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Kenai ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Last Frontier.
It ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty and the 8th highest unemployment rate.
7. Ketchikan
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Population: 8,078
Rank Last Year: 7 (No Change)
Median Income: $85,275 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 11.2% (9th highest)
People In Poverty: 905
More on Ketchikan: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
Ketchikan places as the seventh poorest city in Alaska.
The city of over 8,078 ranks as having the 9th 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: 32,083
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $73,534 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 8.7% (16th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,778
More on Fairbanks: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers
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. Kotzebue
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Kotzebue couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Alaska; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 18th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Kotzebue ranks as having the 3rd most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Alaska.
10. Seward
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And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Alaska is Seward.
The city of 2,794 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 2026
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 2020-2024 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 2026”.
This report has been updated for 2026, which is our eleventh time ranking the poorest places in Alaska.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Alaska For 2026
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: Sitka
3rd Richest: North Pole
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 | 4,485 | 16.4% | $56,280 | 735 |
| 2 | Wasilla | 9,720 | 17.5% | $67,234 | 1,703 |
| 3 | Wrangell | 2,088 | 12.1% | $63,750 | 252 |
| 4 | Palmer | 6,268 | 13.0% | $72,201 | 817 |
| 5 | Homer | 5,877 | 11.8% | $74,449 | 694 |
| 6 | Kenai | 7,641 | 13.2% | $87,083 | 1,008 |
| 7 | Ketchikan | 8,078 | 11.2% | $85,275 | 905 |
| 8 | Fairbanks | 32,083 | 8.7% | $73,534 | 2,778 |
| 9 | Kotzebue | 2,984 | 14.4% | $110,357 | 429 |
| 10 | Seward | 2,794 | 9.3% | $85,481 | 259 |
| 11 | Dillingham | 2,109 | 11.1% | $101,200 | 234 |
| 12 | Bethel | 6,312 | 11.6% | $117,255 | 729 |
| 13 | Kodiak | 5,447 | 7.5% | $90,292 | 409 |
| 14 | Cordova | 2,453 | 2.9% | $85,132 | 71 |
| 15 | Juneau | 31,794 | 8.9% | $101,661 | 2,832 |
| 16 | Anchorage | 288,976 | 8.9% | $103,284 | 25,863 |
| 17 | Unalaska | 4,556 | 9.6% | $131,964 | 438 |
| 18 | Valdez | 3,847 | 5.8% | $99,271 | 221 |
| 19 | North Pole | 2,370 | 4.9% | $92,273 | 116 |
| 20 | Sitka | 8,368 | 7.5% | $101,727 | 625 |
| 21 | Nome | 3,653 | 8.8% | $113,646 | 321 |