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Cost & Benefits

Most affordable towns in Alaska, 2026

Chena Ridge is the most affordable ranked town in Alaska. Rent, the regional price level, taxes, and electricity are 22.5% each. Gasoline is 10%. A lower score is more affordable.

Summary

24
Towns ranked in Alaska.
Chena Ridge
Number 1 in Alaska. Rent is 10.0% of income. National rank 3060.
17.6%
Median rent share among ranked towns in Alaska.
0
Ranked Alaska towns in the national top 100.
Fairbanks
Least affordable ranked town in Alaska. Rent is 24.4% of income. National rank 5265.

Gasoline

$5.167

per gallon. EIA does not publish a Alaska price. This is the West Coast (PADD 5) Except California price dated September 15, 2026. The weekly file does not include that series. At 12,000 miles a year and 25 mpg, that is $2,480.16 a year for every ranked town in Alaska.

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Cost & Benefits. "2026 Most Affordable Towns Index: Alaska." October 16, 2026. https://costandbenefits.com/reports/most-affordable-towns-2026/alaska

https://costandbenefits.com/reports/most-affordable-towns-2026/alaska

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Benefits and taxes in Alaska

Top 25

Alaska has 24 ranked towns, so this is the full list.

  1. #1 in Alaska · National #3060

    Chena Ridge

    Rent share 10.0% · Price level 103.2 · Score 0.445

    Median rent is $1,110 a month and median income is $133,775, so rent is 10.0% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Fairbanks-College, AK metro price level is 103.2 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  2. #2 in Alaska · National #3091

    Steele Creek

    Rent share 12.1% · Price level 103.2 · Score 0.447

    Median rent is $1,223 a month and median income is $121,364, so rent is 12.1% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Fairbanks-College, AK metro price level is 103.2 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  3. #3 in Alaska · National #3301

    Sterling

    Rent share 14.6% · Price level 102.4 · Score 0.462

    Median rent is $1,248 a month and median income is $102,415, so rent is 14.6% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Alaska state price level is 102.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  4. #4 in Alaska · National #3401

    Kenai

    Rent share 15.7% · Price level 102.4 · Score 0.469

    Median rent is $1,138 a month and median income is $87,083, so rent is 15.7% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Alaska state price level is 102.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  5. #5 in Alaska · National #3636

    Bethel

    Rent share 17.2% · Price level 102.4 · Score 0.488

    Median rent is $1,678 a month and median income is $117,255, so rent is 17.2% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Alaska state price level is 102.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  6. #6 in Alaska · National #3675

    Sitka city and

    Rent share 15.8% · Price level 102.4 · Score 0.491

    Median rent is $1,341 a month and median income is $101,727, so rent is 15.8% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Alaska state price level is 102.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  7. #7 in Alaska · National #3718

    Gateway

    Rent share 15.2% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.495

    Median rent is $1,741 a month and median income is $137,772, so rent is 15.2% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  8. #8 in Alaska · National #3775

    South Lakes

    Rent share 14.4% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.500

    Median rent is $1,178 a month and median income is $98,141, so rent is 14.4% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  9. #9 in Alaska · National #3779

    Tanaina

    Rent share 15.9% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.501

    Median rent is $1,398 a month and median income is $105,536, so rent is 15.9% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  10. #10 in Alaska · National #3887

    Juneau city and

    Rent share 17.0% · Price level 102.4 · Score 0.510

    Median rent is $1,444 a month and median income is $101,661, so rent is 17.0% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Alaska state price level is 102.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  11. #11 in Alaska · National #3915

    Kalifornsky

    Rent share 17.9% · Price level 102.4 · Score 0.512

    Median rent is $1,394 a month and median income is $93,508, so rent is 17.9% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Alaska state price level is 102.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  12. #12 in Alaska · National #4095

    North Lakes

    Rent share 17.0% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.527

    Median rent is $1,441 a month and median income is $101,679, so rent is 17.0% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  13. #13 in Alaska · National #4211

    Anchorage

    Rent share 17.3% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.539

    Median rent is $1,489 a month and median income is $103,284, so rent is 17.3% of income, under the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  14. #14 in Alaska · National #4428

    Badger

    Rent share 20.1% · Price level 103.2 · Score 0.556

    Median rent is $1,629 a month and median income is $97,183, so rent is 20.1% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Fairbanks-College, AK metro price level is 103.2 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  15. #15 in Alaska · National #4451

    Ketchikan

    Rent share 19.9% · Price level 102.4 · Score 0.558

    Median rent is $1,417 a month and median income is $85,275, so rent is 19.9% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Alaska state price level is 102.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  16. #16 in Alaska · National #4603

    Palmer

    Rent share 18.7% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.568

    Median rent is $1,125 a month and median income is $72,201, so rent is 18.7% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  17. #17 in Alaska · National #4619

    Homer

    Rent share 20.0% · Price level 102.4 · Score 0.569

    Median rent is $1,238 a month and median income is $74,449, so rent is 20.0% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Alaska state price level is 102.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  18. #18 in Alaska · National #4633

    Kodiak

    Rent share 20.9% · Price level 102.4 · Score 0.570

    Median rent is $1,571 a month and median income is $90,292, so rent is 20.9% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Alaska state price level is 102.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  19. #19 in Alaska · National #4694

    College

    Rent share 20.8% · Price level 103.2 · Score 0.575

    Median rent is $1,454 a month and median income is $83,895, so rent is 20.8% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Fairbanks-College, AK metro price level is 103.2 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  20. #20 in Alaska · National #4720

    Knik-Fairview

    Rent share 19.8% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.577

    Median rent is $1,588 a month and median income is $96,437, so rent is 19.8% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  21. #21 in Alaska · National #4777

    Fishhook

    Rent share 19.8% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.582

    Median rent is $1,837 a month and median income is $111,375, so rent is 19.8% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  22. #22 in Alaska · National #4914

    Meadow Lakes

    Rent share 20.2% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.593

    Median rent is $1,377 a month and median income is $81,699, so rent is 20.2% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  23. #23 in Alaska · National #5105

    Wasilla

    Rent share 20.6% · Price level 105.4 · Score 0.614

    Median rent is $1,153 a month and median income is $67,234, so rent is 20.6% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Anchorage, AK metro price level is 105.4 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  24. #24 in Alaska · National #5265

    Fairbanks

    Rent share 24.4% · Price level 103.2 · Score 0.633

    Median rent is $1,496 a month and median income is $73,534, so rent is 24.4% of income, over the 17.6% median for ranked towns in Alaska. The Fairbanks-College, AK metro price level is 103.2 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 28.83 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $5.167 a gallon (West Coast (PADD 5) Except California). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is tax burden and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

Least affordable 10

Every ranked town in Alaska is already in the list above.

The formula

A lower score is more affordable. Rent share, the regional price level, taxes, and electricity each count 22.5%. Gasoline counts 10%. Those weights are our choice. Gasoline stays at 10% because the miles figure is one national standard, not a measured town commute. This is not a government standard.

A percentile is the share of ranked towns with a strictly lower number, divided by the number of ranked towns minus one. The lowest number scores 0. Tied numbers share a percentile.

  1. Rent share = (median monthly rent × 12) / median household income. Both figures are the Census 2020–2024 medians for that place.
  2. RPP-adjusted cost is the BEA 2024 all-items regional price parity. A basket priced at 100 for the U.S. average costs this many dollars in the town's area. We use the metro index when the county is in a metro BEA publishes. Otherwise we use the state index and say so. This index includes housing, so housing also shows up in the rent share.
  3. Tax burden is the average of three percentiles. Income-tax share is state income tax plus the stored 2023 local AGI add-on, divided by the town's median household income, on a joint return. Property share is the state's median effective property-tax rate times the town's median home value, divided by income. Sales rate is the combined state and average local sales-tax rate. We do not turn the sales rate into dollars, because that would require a shopping basket we do not have.
  4. Electricity is the state residential price in cents per kilowatt-hour. Every town in a state shares it. We do not guess how many kilowatt-hours a home uses.
  5. Gasoline is the EIA retail price for all grades and all formulations, in dollars per gallon. Where EIA publishes a state series, we use that state. Every other state uses the PADD region EIA assigns to it. Census does not publish commuting miles for these towns, so annual gas spend is 12,000 miles a year divided by 25 miles per gallon, times the price. That is 480 gallons, the same for every town. Those miles are our standard, not an ACS figure and not a government mileage rule. Because the gallons do not change, the gas percentile is the percentile of the price.

    Weekly prices are for the week of October 12, 2026, from the EIA workbook released October 14, 2026. File: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/xls/pswrgvwall.xls. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, and Oregon use West Coast (PADD 5) Except California. That series is not in the weekly workbook, so those five use the monthly price dated September 15, 2026. File: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_gnd_a_epm0_pte_dpgal_m.htm.

    • State series, week of October 12, 2026: California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington.
    • Central Atlantic (PADD 1B), week of October 12, 2026: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania.
    • Gulf Coast (PADD 3), week of October 12, 2026: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico.
    • Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C), week of October 12, 2026: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia.
    • Midwest (PADD 2), week of October 12, 2026: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin.
    • New England (PADD 1A), week of October 12, 2026: Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont.
    • Rocky Mountain (PADD 4), week of October 12, 2026: Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming.
    • West Coast (PADD 5) Except California, September 15, 2026: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon.

Score = 0.225 × rent percentile + 0.225 × price-level percentile + 0.225 × tax score + 0.225 × electricity percentile + 0.10 × gasoline percentile. Rank 1 is the lowest score. If scores tie, the lower rent share wins, then the lower price level, then the place slug in A-to-Z order.

Questions

What is the most affordable town in Alaska in this index?

Chena Ridge is number 1 of 24 ranked towns in Alaska. Median rent is 10.0% of median income. Its national rank is 3060.

How many towns in Alaska were ranked?

24 towns in Alaska have at least 5,000 people and published Census rent, income, and home value. Places missing one of those figures are left out.

Does this ranking approve benefits in Alaska?

No. Cost & Benefits does not approve or deny benefits. The score is a cost comparison only.