Photo: United States Air Force · Public domainHouseholds in Eielson AFB have lower incomes than those in 61% of U.S. towns
3.9% of residents live below the poverty line (Alaska 10.1%). Jobs and income earn Eielson AFB C+; getting around on foot earns it A−. Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, against 10% across Alaska.
Census ACS 2020–24, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Eielson AFB
On income, poverty and job access, Eielson AFB is better than 42% of U.S. towns, #22 of 41 in Alaska. The poverty rate holds Eielson AFB’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 5% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (14.0%) is left out: Eielson AFB’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Eielson AFB could be anywhere from C− to B.
Commuting from Eielson AFB: about 10 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eielson AFB workers work from home, vs 10% across Alaska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,456 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Alaska: 72% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Eielson AFB is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Eielson AFB is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #15 of 41 in Alaska. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 15.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 9.9% across Alaska, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,488 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.7% of Eielson AFB households have no vehicle (Alaska 9.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Eielson AFB’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Eielson AFB is 2,712th among 4,698 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,648 | Goldstream AK | 3,294 | $104K | 4.7% | 3.7% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,658 | Mill Bay AK | 3,654 | $89K | 9.0% | 0.0% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,718 | North Pole AK | 2,477 | $92K | 4.9% | 4.6% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,710 | Cle Elum WA | 2,288 | $64K | 9.8% | 2.1% | 23% | C+ |
| 2,711 | Blue Lake Township MI | 2,450 | $83K | 15.0% | 4.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,712 | Eielson AFB AK | 3,155 | $68K | 3.9% | 14.0% | — | C+ |
| 2,713 | Orchidlands Estates HI | 3,027 | $74K | 13.9% | 1.8% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,714 | North Sioux City SD | 3,036 | $72K | 11.0% | 5.1% | 22% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Eielson AFB, the top three, the last and three more from Alaska.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Eielson AFB: questions
What is the median household income in Eielson AFB?
$68,199 (±$15,117) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $92,788 across Alaska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eielson AFB?
3.9%, against 10.1% across Alaska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eielson AFB?
10 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Alaska and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Is Eielson AFB walkable?
Eielson AFB is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eielson AFB without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eielson AFB, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eielson AFB
Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.