Alaska

Population 735,706

6 Sources Updated September 10, 2026

735,706

Population

334,922,499 U.S.

$92,788

Median Income

$80,734 national

$71.6B

GDP (current $), change real

4.6%

Unemployment

4.0% national

Community Data / United States / Alaska

Borough & Census Area Map Demographics Economy Industry Concentration Housing Workforce Boroughs AI Insights

Borough & Census Area Map

Click a county to view its economic profile

Demographics & Population

Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates

Household Income

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Median Household

$92,788

Per Capita

$46,573

Mean Household

$118,985

Poverty Rate

10.1%

Age & Race / Ethnicity

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B01001, B02001, B03003

Cohorts

Under 18 · 24.1%

18-34 · 24.7%

35-54 · 25.5%

55-64 · 11.9%

65+ · 13.8%

Race & Ethnicity

White59.6%

Two or More Races13.6%

American Indian and Alaska Native13.5%

Asian6.4%

Black or African American3%

Some Other Race2.3%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander1.6%

Hispanic or Latino(any race)7.3%

Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.

Educational Attainment

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+

93.6%

High School+

National: 89.6%

+4.0 pts

31.7%

Bachelor's+

National: 35.7%

4.0 pts

11.8%

Graduate+

National: 14.1%

2.3 pts

Employment Overview

Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

735,706

Population

359,445

Labor Force

Employed

338,408

Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2024 annual

4.6%

2025 is not shown for Alaska: a state annual average needs all 12 months and the Bureau of Labor Statistics has published 11. County pages draw on the separate annual series and may show 2025.

Mean Commute 7 min below national avg

19.4 min

Work From Home vs 15.1% national

9.7%

Labor Force and Employed are ACS 5-Year survey estimates; the Unemployment Rate above comes from BLS LAUS, a separate monthly survey with its own methodology. The two won't reconcile by subtracting one from the other.

Alaska's median household income sits 15% above the national median. At 10.1%, its poverty rate runs 2.4 pts below the ~12.5% national level, relevant for federal funding eligibility narratives. Bachelor's-or-higher attainment of 31.7% trails the national average of 35.7%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates (released December 2025). Figures reflect the most recent Census release, older news reports may cite prior vintages.

Key Takeaways

Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong consumer markets statewide.

Economy & Industry

Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis

$71.6B

Gross Domestic Product · 2024

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · CAGDP2 Regional GDP

102.359

Cost of Living - Above Avg

Top Private-Sector Industries by Employment

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics · Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages 2025 Annual · Private sector only, with government shown below

Top private-sector industries by employment in Alaska, with employment, share of top sectors, and average wage. Government employment is excluded and reported separately below the table.
Industry	Employment	% of Top Sectors	Avg Wage
1Health Care and Social Assistance	51,043	31.4%	$76,684
2Retail Trade	34,850	21.4%	$43,193
3Transportation and Warehousing	23,139	14.2%	$90,831
4Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	13,642	8.4%	$97,945
5Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction	13,099	8.0%	$169,976
6Administrative and Support and Waste Management	12,026	7.4%	$64,710
7Wholesale Trade	6,459	4.0%	$78,019
8Management of Companies and Enterprises	3,261	2.0%	$127,045
9Educational Services	2,653	1.6%	$46,463
10Utilities	2,592	1.6%	$118,427

Government employment · context only

74,633

Public-sector jobs are not in the table above and are not part of any share or location quotient on this page. Both are measured on the private economy only, 257,911 private jobs in 2025: every location quotient divides by that total, and the % of Top Sectors column divides by the sectors listed above. Private employment is the standard basis for measuring industry concentration because government employment mostly serves the resident population rather than an outside market. Nothing on this card is expected to add up with the government figure.

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Key Takeaways

Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 51,043 workers (31.4% of the tracked sectors), at an average wage of $76,684. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 74,633 and is counted separately.
Economic scale: State GDP of $71.6B (2024).
Wage stratification: Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction averages $169,976 while Retail Trade averages $43,193, a 3.9x spread in the same economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.

Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP (CAGDP2).

Industry Concentration

Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.

Chart source: BLS QCEW · broad NAICS supersector · private sector · Location Quotient vs. national private-sector employment share. The same supersector axes appear on every profile, so the shape can be compared across geographies.

Concentrated Industries

List source: BLS QCEW · 3-digit NAICS sub-sector · private sector · Location Quotient vs. national private-sector employment share.
Same source and same private-sector basis as the Top Industries table above. These sit at a finer level than the chart's supersector axes, so the two sets of values are not directly comparable. The sub-sector view surfaces specialization the supersector view masks, such as Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation here.

Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation

41.38x

2,420

Oil and Gas Extraction

14.62x

3,306

Support Activities for Mining

11.33x

5,843

Mining (except Oil and Gas)

10.85x

3,950

Water Transportation

8.87x

1,178

Air Transportation

5.84x

6,473

Food Manufacturing

2.58x

8,882

Telecommunications

2.52x

2,893

Utilities

2.22x

2,592

Support Activities for Transportation

2.17x

3,442

+ 5 more sub-sectors at LQ ≥ 1.5, holding a further 25,923 jobs. See the spider chart for the broader picture.

Attraction Opportunities - Below-Average Industries

LQ < 0.5, below-average employment, screened against industrial power cost. Source: BLS QCEW · 3-digit NAICS sub-sector

0.04x

Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing

54 employed

Energy-intensive sector in a state where industrial electricity costs 2.32x the national average.

0.07x

Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing

142 employed

0.11x

Apparel Manufacturing

17 employed

0.14x

Miscellaneous Manufacturing

165 employed

0.16x

Warehousing and Storage

587 employed

0.19x

Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing

517 employed

Energy-intensive sector in a state where industrial electricity costs 2.32x the national average.

Screened on industrial power cost only; 2 further sub-sectors met the LQ test but conflict with it and are not listed. Industrial electricity in Alaska costs 20.03¢/kWh against 8.62¢/kWh nationally (2025). Land area and freight access are not assessed at state level. Source: EIA.

Key Takeaways

Top specialization: Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation concentrates at 41.38x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity.
Cluster depth: 15 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base across the state.
Attraction whitespace: 6 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5 and clear the industrial power-cost screen, candidates for diversification or recruitment.

Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.

Industry Employment Composition

Alaska's Top Sectors by Workforce Share

Each rectangle's area is proportional to that sector's share of the top private supersectors. Hover for exact employment.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW 2025 Annual · Private sector, NAICS supersectors

Housing & Affordability

Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026

Housing Overview

Source: Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064

$352,900

Median Home Value vs 2019

$1,419

Rent/Mo

66.8%

Owner-Occ

17.6%

Vacancy

3.8x

Home Value to Income Ratio

vs. ~4.1x national average

HUD Fair Market Rents (Statewide)

Renter-household-weighted average across 30 Fair Market Rent areas · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026 · Affordability threshold and renter cost burden from Census ACS B25119, B25070

Studio

$1,134/mo$698 to $1,688

1 Bedroom

$1,231/mo$767 to $1,719

2 Bedroom

$1,591/mo$973 to $2,191

3 Bedroom

$2,180/mo$1,353 to $2,652

4 Bedroom

$2,609/mo$1,596 to $2,901

30% of monthly median renter household income (~$1,602/mo, from a renter median of $64,073) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.

Measured: 40.4% of renter households already pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 17.6% pay 50% or more.

Key Takeaways

In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.8x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
Elevated vacancy: 17.6% vacancy rate; potential redevelopment opportunity.
Affordable rent tiers: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $64,073 can pay without cost burden (~$1,602/mo), and 40.4% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.

Source: Census ACS housing tables.

Workforce Pipeline

Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition

Labor Market Overview

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301

456,833

Working Age (18-64) vs 2019

vs 2019

Mean Commute 7 min below national avg

19.4 min

Work From Home vs 15.1% national

9.7%

Education & Talent Pipeline

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard

Bachelor's+

31.7%

HS Diploma+

93.6%

6 Largest Institutions by Credentials Awarded

Degrees, certificates, and other credentials awarded last academic year (College Scorecard).

University of Alaska Anchorage 1,895/yr

Charter College 1,305/yr

University of Alaska Fairbanks 1,209/yr

University of Alaska Southeast 463/yr

Alaska Career College 215/yr

Alaska Pacific University 138/yr

Aging Workforce

Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables

19.2%

55-64 of working-age population (18-64)

Same cohort is 11.9% of total population, the basis used in the Demographics cohort chart.

Workforce by Occupation

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+

Management / Professional

39.8%

Service

17.7%

Sales & Office

19.2%

Construction / Maint.

11%

Production / Transport

12.3%

Bars are drawn on a 0% to 40% axis, so bar length is proportional to actual share. Labels give each group's share of 338,408 employed workers.

Key Takeaways

Healthy participation: 68.6% of the population aged 18+ is in the labor force, reflecting a steady, available workforce statewide.
Short commutes: 19.4-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage for site selectors.

Source: ACS workforce data.

Borough & Census Area Profiles

30 boroughs and census areas in Alaska

AI Insights

Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 6 federal data sources.

Sample AI Insight

Alaska shows strong potential for scenic and sightseeing transportation attraction, with a 41.38x concentration and 2,420 jobs in this sub-sector.

Cluster depth across scenic and sightseeing transportation, oil and gas extraction, and support activities for mining creates supply-chain attraction leverage, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.

Industry Shift Analysis

Manufacturing Automation Risk

High

Healthcare Growth Forecast

+4.2% CAGR

Remote Work Migration

67/100

Prospect Match Scores

Advanced Manufacturing

92/100

Life Sciences

84/100

Data Centers

71/100

Illustrative example

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Data Sources

Updated from official federal government data.

Census ACS 5-Year2024

BLS QCEW2025

BEA Regional GDP2024

Census CBP2024

HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026

USAspending.govFY2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Key economic and demographic figures for Alaska, from federal data sources.

What is the population of Alaska?

735,706 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the median household income in Alaska?

$92,788 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).

What is the unemployment rate in Alaska?

4.6% (2024 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).

What is the GDP of Alaska?

$71.6B (BEA CAGDP2 (Regional)).

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