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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Families relocating within Alaska face a complex equation: income, housing costs, healthcare, and quality schools. We ran the numbers on 1 cities. Anchorage — index 105, rent $1,660/mo, healthcare index 108 — ranks #1 on our family-weighted model.
#1 Ranked: Anchorage — cost index 105, rent $1,660/mo, income $98,152
Family-weighted scoring: income $98,152, healthcare index 108, population 286,075 — balancing career, care, and schools
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Families relocating within Alaska face a complex equation: income, housing costs, healthcare, and quality schools. We ran the numbers on 1 cities. Anchorage — index 105, rent $1,660/mo, healthcare index 108 — ranks #1 on our family-weighted model.
So, Anchorage. And more often than not, cost index of 105 — for better or worse — , rent at $1,660/month. It's lower than the national average. Median income is $98,152, which is above average. It's fine. Not great, not bad.
Keep reading — the next section adds critical context. And most of the time, across Alaska, the average cost of living index is 105 — 7 points below the national median. Known for vast wilderness, high wages, and higher prices, the state offers 1 tracked cities with median rents averaging $1,660/month. That's $235 less than the national average of $1,895. That adds up much faster than people realize. I'll say what the data can't: this city punches above its weight in ways that don't show up in a spreadsheet. There's a reason people who move here tend to stay. You can call it quality of life, you can call it vibes, whatever — the point is, the cost structure gives people room to actually enjoy where they live, and that's increasingly rare in this country.
Real talk: What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
286,075 residents · Alaska
Why Anchorage ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 105 on the cost index, residents save roughly 7% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,660/month — though some people might weigh that differently — while the median household pulls in $98,152/year. The Utilities category is particularly strong at 97, though Housing (113) lags behind. Home prices average $405,601 — $61,769 below the national median (a figure that keeps climbing, by the way).
Anchorage ranks #1 in Alaska for this analysis with a cost index of 105 and median income of $98,152.
Anchorage scores highest for families due to its strong income potential, median rent of $1,660/mo, and above-average median income of $98,152.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Anchorage is $1,660/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $235 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Anchorage is $405,601, which is 4.1× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Alaska has a 0% state income tax rate — one of the states with no income tax. Combined state and local sales tax averages 1.82%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.04%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.