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Place dossier plate
SheetAK-GUSTAVUS-AK · Gustavus, AK 610 pop · income 42nd pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Gustavus
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Gustavus on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Napakiak · lowest
26,563
Napakiak · lowest
26,563 median HH income
19.1% of the leader · rank #1
Gustavus · this city
64,167
Gustavus · this city
64,167 median HH income
46.0% of the leader · rank #2
Level Plains · near
64,167
Level Plains · near
64,167 median HH income
46.0% of the leader · rank #3
Avoca · near
64,167
Avoca · near
64,167 median HH income
46.0% of the leader · rank #4
Damascus · near
64,167
Damascus · near
64,167 median HH income
46.0% of the leader · rank #5
East Gillespie · near
64,167
East Gillespie · near
64,167 median HH income
46.0% of the leader · rank #6
Sedillo · highest
139,375
Sedillo · highest
139,375 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Gustavus on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 610.
Nationally, Gustavus sits in the 42nd percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
42nd
percentile, household income
61st
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Gustavus, AK
Alaska's Gustavus is a small town, with 610 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Gustavus brings in $64,167 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.4%. Home values in Gustavus run a median of $276,500, and the median resident age is 51.5 years. 31.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 55.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
NOAA puts Gustavus's yearly average temperature at 40.1°F with 62.3 inches of precipitation per year and 72.3 inches of snowfall.
Alaska tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Alaska at 102.4 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,467 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Alaska's average monthly utility costs around $271 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 35.2 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Gustavus's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from schools and households to population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income to climate and hazard context to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Gustavus, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Gustavus?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 31.8% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Is Gustavus growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -44 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -6.7% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Which cities make useful reference points for Gustavus?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within Alaska, the closest population matches are Wainwright (612 residents, $85,750 income); Fox River (605 residents, $75,083 income); Tuntutuliak (616 residents, $53,625 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cisne, IL (610 residents); Fairmount, IL (610 residents); Irvington, IL (610 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
How far does income reach against housing in Gustavus?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Gustavus?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 40.1°F, with 62.3 inches of precipitation and 72.3 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Alaska is 35.2 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
35.2
Annual precipitation
62.3 in
Mean temperature
40.1°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the journey to work look like in Gustavus?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 60.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
60.1%
Work from home
5.1%
Public transit
0.7%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 276 workers age 16+.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate A-
2.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C+
31.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income D
$64,167
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Cost of living F
102.4 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Gustavus profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 83/100 (A-) · 2.4%
Bachelor's+ share: 61/100 (C+) · 31.8%
Household income: 41/100 (D) · $64,167
Cost of living: 29/100 (F) · 102.4 index
How does Gustavus compare to other US cities?
Where Gustavus sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income42% higher than other cities
Home value61% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Gustavus against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Alaska only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Alaska-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Gustavus near the bottom of Alaska's cities
Among the 228 Alaska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Gustavus ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Gustavus only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#114 of 215
47th percentile in Alaska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 228
0th percentile in Alaska
Median Home Value
#67 of 200
67th percentile in Alaska
Poverty Rate
#181 of 225
20th percentile in Alaska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#38 of 228
83rd percentile in Alaska
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Alaska only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
42nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Gustavus's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$276,50039th percentilemore affordable than 39% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Gustavus's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#11,545 of 15,516
More affordable than 26% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,897 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.3×, Gustavus sits in the moderate band:
national rank #11,545 of 15,516 and #8,897 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$64,167Gustavus, AK median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Gustavus, AK median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Gustavus, AK.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)31.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
610
Median Income
$64,167
Median Home Value
$276,500
Median Age
51.5
Poverty Rate
2.4%
Labor force participation
55.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
31.8%
Climate
Avg Temperature
40.1°F
Annual Precipitation
62.3"
Annual Snowfall
72.3"
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Gustavus's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
654 residents
2021
633 residents
2022
616 residents
2023
611 residents
2024
618 residents
2025
610 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
60.1%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.7%
Walk
26.8%
Work from Home
5.1%
Other
7.3%
Based on 276 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Alaska statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $271
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Alaska at $271 (electricity about $131 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Alaska statewide averages, not a meter reading for Gustavus. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Alaska's BEA cost-of-living index is 102.4 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Gustavus is $1,467/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Alaska statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 35.2 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Alaska statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Gustavus sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Gustavus compares to similar-size Alaska cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.