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Place dossier plate
SheetAK-RIDGEWAY-AK · Ridgeway, AK 2,174 pop · income 74th 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 Ridgeway
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ridgeway on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Carlisle · lowest
34,858
Carlisle · lowest
34,858 median HH income
21.7% of the leader · rank #1
Ridgeway · this city
95,000
Ridgeway · this city
95,000 median HH income
59.2% of the leader · rank #2
Avocado Heigh… · near
95,000
Avocado Heigh… · near
95,000 median HH income
59.2% of the leader · rank #3
Oakdale · near
95,000
Oakdale · near
95,000 median HH income
59.2% of the leader · rank #4
Luzerne · near
95,000
Luzerne · near
95,000 median HH income
59.2% of the leader · rank #5
Martelle · near
95,000
Martelle · near
95,000 median HH income
59.2% of the leader · rank #6
Prestbury · highest
160,370
Prestbury · highest
160,370 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 Ridgeway 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: 2,174.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Ridgeway places in the 74th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
74th
percentile, household income
66th
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: Ridgeway, AK
2,174 people live in Ridgeway, Alaska - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Ridgeway brings in $95,000 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 3.8%. Home values in Ridgeway run a median of $305,000, and the median resident age is 54.0 years. 34.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 42.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Alaska tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 102.4 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,467 per month statewide. 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 Ridgeway'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 work and mobility to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ridgeway, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Ridgeway?
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 Wrangell (2,106 residents, $64,545 income); Dillingham (2,084 residents, $99,097 income); Deltana (2,064 residents, $95,927 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Clearlake Oaks, CA (2,174 residents); Prestbury, IL (2,174 residents); Lake Odessa, MI (2,174 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Ridgeway?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 60.2%. 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. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
How far does income reach against housing in Ridgeway?
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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 3.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Above median income · poverty 3.8% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
102.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Alaska average
C+
City profile score · Ridgeway, AK
61/100
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.
Household income B
$95,000
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate B
3.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share B-
34.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; 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).
Ridgeway profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 74/100 (B) · $95,000
Poverty rate: 73/100 (B) · 3.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 66/100 (B-) · 34.7%
Cost of living: 29/100 (F) · 102.4 index
How does Ridgeway compare to other US cities?
Where Ridgeway sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income74% higher than other cities
Home value66% 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 Ridgeway 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 Ridgeway near the bottom of Alaska's cities
Among the 228 Alaska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ridgeway ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ridgeway only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#35 of 215
83rd percentile in Alaska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 228
0th percentile in Alaska
Median Home Value
#50 of 200
75th percentile in Alaska
Poverty Rate
#169 of 225
24th percentile in Alaska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#33 of 228
86th 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
74th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Ridgeway's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$305,00034th percentilemore affordable than 34% 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
Ridgeway's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,747 of 15,516
More affordable than 50% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,393 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.2×, Ridgeway sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,747 of 15,516 and #6,393 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
$95,000Ridgeway, AK median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ridgeway, 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 Ridgeway, AK.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)34.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)3.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)42.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,174
Median Income
$95,000
Median Home Value
$305,000
Median Age
54.0
Poverty Rate
3.8%
Labor force participation
42.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
34.7%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
60.2%
Carpool
5.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
4.3%
Work from Home
25.6%
Other
4.7%
Based on 716 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 Ridgeway. 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 Ridgeway 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 Ridgeway sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ridgeway 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, 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.