Photo: AnaSoc · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Ester have lower incomes than those in 84% of U.S. towns
11.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.1% across Alaska. Jobs and income earn Ester C−; getting around on foot earns it D. The average commute takes 21 minutes each way, against 19 across Alaska and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind Ester’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ester is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #38 of 41 in Alaska. The poverty rate holds Ester’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ester could be anywhere from D− to B+.
How long Ester spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ester workers work from home, vs 10% across Alaska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,160 commuters (the 10% 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.
Getting around Ester: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ester is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns, #37 of 41 in Alaska. Both inputs place Ester near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,285 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). 8.4% of Ester households have no vehicle (Alaska 9.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ester’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Ester is 4,038th of 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,650 | Goldstream AK | 3,294 | $104K | 4.7% | 3.7% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,659 | Mill Bay AK | 3,654 | $89K | 9.0% | 0.0% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,725 | North Pole AK | 2,477 | $92K | 4.9% | 4.6% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,036 | Wright Township IN | 3,567 | $54K | 8.7% | 6.9% | 11% | C− |
| 4,037 | Anson ME | 2,333 | $52K | 8.8% | 3.8% | 13% | C− |
| 4,038 | Ester AK | 2,752 | $53K | 11.9% | 5.5% | — | C− |
| 4,039 | Madison FL | 2,988 | $31K | 34.8% | 1.2% | 19% | C− |
| 4,040 | Bloomingdale Township MI | 3,074 | $66K | 25.8% | 6.0% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Ester, 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 Ester: questions
What is the median household income in Ester?
$53,272 (±$34,700) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $92,788 across Alaska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ester?
11.9%, against 10.1% across Alaska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ester?
21 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Alaska and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Is Ester walkable?
Ester is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ester
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.