More historic than 5% of U.S. towns · #31 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it
Most of Badger was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1949 on.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Badger is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #31 of 41 in Alaska. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Badger’s overall grade.
Alaska towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Alaska town has 3.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Badger’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Alaska towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Badger’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Badger yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Badger is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Fairbanks North Star Borough of Alaska. It was one of the CDPs created in 2010 out of small suburbs and outskirts of Fairbanks. It has an area of 66.71 sq. mi, 65.63 of land and 1.08 of water. The population of the CDP was 19,031 as of the 2020 Census, down from 19,482 in 2010. Badger's designation as a Place made it number 5 by population, behind Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Knik-Fairview, in a list of Alaska Cities and census-designated places (by population). Badger is a major community of the Fairbanks, AK Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 19,482 to 19,031 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
Badger, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Badger is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #31 of 41 in Alaska. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Badger?
0.2% of Badger’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.3% for an Alaska town; the median home was built in 1985.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1980
2011
2009
2009
2009
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