These Are The 10 Best Cities In Alaska For Jobs In 2017

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If you’re starting to look for a job in Alaska, you’ve come to the right place.

You might think off the top of your head that Juneau would be an excellent place to find a job. And while it does offer many opportunities, it isn’t the best in the state according to the data.

Here at Zippia, we aim to answer questions like this using cold hard facts and analysis. So we set our sights on determining the best place in Alaska to find a job.

After analyzing all 23 plus places in Alaska, we came up with this list as the best places for jobs in the Last Frontier:

If you live in one of these cities, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you — read on to learn how we calculated this ranking and why these cities rank so high.

Or for more Alaska job information, check out:

How We Determined The Best Cities In Alaska For Jobs

In order to properly compare places, we set a minimum population threshold of 5,000 people.

After getting the data for about 46 places in AK, the population requirement cut out list down to 23 places.

We then ranked each place across a number of criteria from one to 23, with one being the best.

We took the average rank across all criteria, with the place posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title “Best Place For Jobs In Alaska”.

The criteria we looked at were:

Unemployment rate
Median household income
Poverty Level

The source of the criteria was the Census’s American Community Survey.

If your city or town isn’t among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart.

Otherwise, learn how these cities got to their executive suite status.

1. Cordova

Population: 2,637Unemployment Rank: 4
Median Income Rank: 2
Poverty Level Rank: 1

2. Unalaska

Population: 4,536Unemployment Rank: 1
Median Income Rank: 4
Poverty Level Rank: 7

3. Juneau

Population: 32,200Unemployment Rank: 6
Median Income Rank: 5
Poverty Level Rank: 3

4. Sitka

Population: 8,957Unemployment Rank: 5
Median Income Rank: 10
Poverty Level Rank: 6

5. Anchorage

Population: 298,178Unemployment Rank: 8
Median Income Rank: 8
Poverty Level Rank: 5

6. North Pole

Population: 2,153Unemployment Rank: 3
Median Income Rank: 12
Poverty Level Rank: 11

7. Kodiak

Population: 6,280Unemployment Rank: 2
Median Income Rank: 15
Poverty Level Rank: 14

8. Bethel

Population: 6,295Unemployment Rank: 10
Median Income Rank: 7
Poverty Level Rank: 15

9. Valdez

Population: 4,002Unemployment Rank: 12
Median Income Rank: 1
Poverty Level Rank: 19

10. Soldotna

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 4,345Unemployment Rank: 19
Median Income Rank: 13
Poverty Level Rank: 2

Landing The Right Place For A Job

The best places for jobs in Alaska have one major common attribute — they are all close to major sources of jobs. These places use their geographic proximity to big cities and major employers to their advantage.

It also means that the American dream of a house in the burbs is also alive and well when it comes to finding a great place to have a job.

If you’re curious enough, here are the worst places to find a job Alaska:

Houston
Ketchikan
Fairbanks

Detailed List Of The Best Places For Jobs In Alaska

Rank	City	Population	Unemployment Rank	Income Rank	Poverty Rank
1	Cordova	2,637	4	2	1
2	Unalaska	4,536	1	4	7
3	Juneau	32,200	6	5	3
4	Sitka	8,957	5	10	6
5	Anchorage	298,178	8	8	5
6	North Pole	2,153	3	12	11
7	Kodiak	6,280	2	15	14
8	Bethel	6,295	10	7	15
9	Valdez	4,002	12	1	19
10	Soldotna	4,345	19	13	2
11	Nome	3,745	15	9	12
12	Seward	2,646	11	22	4
13	Homer	5,229	9	19	10
14	Wrangell	2,383	7	23	8
15	Palmer	6,250	14	17	9
16	Dillingham	2,255	13	11	20
17	Kotzebue	3,273	21	3	21
18	Barrow	4,296	22	6	17
19	Wasilla	8,406	18	14	13
20	Kenai	7,348	17	16	18
21	Fairbanks	32,100	20	18	16
22	Ketchikan	8,173	16	20	23
23	Houston	2,058	23	21	22

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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