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Place dossier plate
SheetAK-UTQIAGVIK-AK · Utqiaġvik, AK 4,850 pop · income 70th pct · 3 tracts
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 Utqiaġvik
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Utqiaġvik on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Santa Isabel… · lowest
14,479
Santa Isabel… · lowest
14,479 median HH income
12.7% of the leader · rank #1
Orange Beach · near
89,034
Orange Beach · near
89,034 median HH income
77.9% of the leader · rank #2
Circle D-KC E… · near
89,037
Circle D-KC E… · near
89,037 median HH income
77.9% of the leader · rank #3
Utqiaġvik · this city
89,038
Utqiaġvik · this city
89,038 median HH income
77.9% of the leader · rank #4
Helena Valley… · near
89,040
Helena Valley… · near
89,040 median HH income
77.9% of the leader · rank #5
Firth · near
89,044
Firth · near
89,044 median HH income
77.9% of the leader · rank #6
Unalaska · highest
114,286
Unalaska · highest
114,286 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 Utqiaġvik 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: 4,850.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Utqiaġvik lands in the 70th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
70th
percentile, household income
62nd
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: Utqiaġvik, AK
Alaska's Utqiaġvik is a small town, with 4,850 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Utqiaġvik households earn a median of $89,038 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.6%. Typical homes in Utqiaġvik are valued around $282,400, and the median resident age is 30.7 years. 13.8% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 59.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Alaska tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Alaska scores 102.4 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. 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. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 35.2 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Utqiaġvik'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 within-city variation to housing and income to work and mobility to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Utqiaġvik, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Utqiaġvik?
Within Alaska, the closest population matches are Farmers Loop (4,887 residents, $103,635 income); Nikiski (4,656 residents, $63,023 income); Soldotna (4,448 residents, $62,984 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Santa Isabel zona urbana, PR (4,850 residents); June Park, FL (4,852 residents); Pupukea, HI (4,853 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.
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.
What can 3 Census tracts reveal inside Utqiaġvik?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
How far does income reach against housing in Utqiaġvik?
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 9.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Utqiaġvik?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 39.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Population change
Is Utqiaġvik growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -272 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.5% 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.
Period change
-5.5%
2025 estimate
4,640
2020 estimate
4,912
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 9.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
102.4 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Alaska average
D
City profile score · Utqiaġvik, AK
42/100
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-
$89,038
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.8%
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).
Utqiaġvik profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 68/100 (B-) · $89,038
Poverty rate: 41/100 (D) · 9.6%
Cost of living: 29/100 (F) · 102.4 index
Bachelor's+ share: 17/100 (F) · 13.8%
How does Utqiaġvik compare to other US cities?
Where Utqiaġvik sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income70% higher than other cities
Home value62% 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 Utqiaġvik 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 Utqiaġvik near the bottom of Alaska's cities
Among the 228 Alaska cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Utqiaġvik ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Utqiaġvik only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#49 of 215
77th percentile in Alaska
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 228
0th percentile in Alaska
Median Home Value
#62 of 200
69th percentile in Alaska
Poverty Rate
#110 of 225
51st percentile in Alaska
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#121 of 228
46th 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
70th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Utqiaġvik's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$282,40038th percentilemore affordable than 38% 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
Utqiaġvik'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
#7,553 of 15,516
More affordable than 51% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,249 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.2×, Utqiaġvik sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,553 of 15,516 and #6,249 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
$89,038Utqiaġvik, AK median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Utqiaġvik, 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 Utqiaġvik, AK.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,850
Median Income
$89,038
Median Home Value
$282,400
Median Age
30.7
Poverty Rate
9.6%
Labor force participation
59.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.8%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Utqiaġvik's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,912 residents
2021
4,909 residents
2022
4,780 residents
2023
4,642 residents
2024
4,644 residents
2025
4,640 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
39.2%
Carpool
27.1%
Public Transit
0.6%
Walk
11.8%
Work from Home
7.4%
Other
13.9%
Based on 2,094 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 Utqiaġvik. 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 Utqiaġvik 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 Utqiaġvik sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Utqiaġvik 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.