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Place dossier plate
SheetAK-KOBUK-AK · Kobuk, AK 125 pop · income 3rd 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 Kobuk
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Kobuk on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Collinsville · lowest
31,411
Collinsville · lowest
31,411 median HH income
35.4% of the leader · rank #1
Ruidoso Downs · near
31,413
Ruidoso Downs · near
31,413 median HH income
35.4% of the leader · rank #2
Lattimer · near
31,427
Lattimer · near
31,427 median HH income
35.4% of the leader · rank #3
Kobuk · this city
31,429
Kobuk · this city
31,429 median HH income
35.4% of the leader · rank #4
Summerville · near
31,429
Summerville · near
31,429 median HH income
35.4% of the leader · rank #5
Natalbany · near
31,430
Natalbany · near
31,430 median HH income
35.4% of the leader · rank #6
Morrison · highest
88,750
Morrison · highest
88,750 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 Kobuk 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: 125.
Nationally, Kobuk sits in the 3rd percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
3rd
percentile, household income
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: Kobuk, AK
Alaska's Kobuk is a small town, with 125 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $31,429 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 22.2%. The median resident age is 22.1 years. About 0.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 47.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,467 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Alaska run around $271, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Kobuk'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 comparison shortlist to population change to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Kobuk, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Kobuk?
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 Port Graham (125 residents, $88,750 income); Primrose (125 residents, $84,444 income); Willow Creek (126 residents, $76,542 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Top-of-the-World, AZ (125 residents); Payneway, AR (125 residents); Ritchie, IL (125 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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -18 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -9.8% 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.
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. 0.0% 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.
Walking is the largest reported mode at 61.3%. 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.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 22.2% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
102.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Alaska average
F
City profile score · Kobuk, AK
10/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
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.
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.
Poverty rate F
22.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$31,429
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
0.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Kobuk profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 29/100 (F) · 102.4 index
Poverty rate: 10/100 (F) · 22.2%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $31,429
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 0.0%
How does Kobuk compare to other US cities?
Where Kobuk sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income3% higher 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 Kobuk 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 Kobuk near the bottom of Alaska's cities
Among the 228 Alaska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Kobuk ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Kobuk only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#207 of 215
4th percentile in Alaska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 228
0th percentile in Alaska
Poverty Rate
#54 of 225
76th percentile in Alaska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#217 of 228
0th 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
3rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$31,429Kobuk, AK median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Kobuk, 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 Kobuk, AK.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)0.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)22.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)47.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
125
Median Income
$31,429
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
22.1
Poverty Rate
22.2%
Labor force participation
47.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
0.0%
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
Kobuk's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
184 residents
2021
178 residents
2022
173 residents
2023
171 residents
2024
167 residents
2025
166 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
0.0%
Carpool
9.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
61.3%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
29.0%
Based on 31 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 Kobuk. 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 Kobuk 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 Kobuk sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Kobuk 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, 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.