Fort William H. Seward · Photo: Mike Quach · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Haines earn more than those in 64% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 13 minutes each way (Alaska 19, U.S. 26). 5.2% of residents live below the poverty line (Alaska 10.1%). For jobs and income Haines is better than 48% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Haines
The poverty rate holds Haines’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (5.8%) is left out: Haines’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, Haines could be anywhere from C to B.
About 13 minutes to work from Haines
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Haines workers work from home, vs 10% across Alaska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 645 commuters (the 11% 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.
Haines is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 9.9% across Alaska, on an EPA index of 7.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 726 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). 4.8% of Haines households have no vehicle (Alaska 9.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Haines’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Haines ranks: 2,463rd of 6,085 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,292 | Prudhoe Bay AK | 1,664 | — | 6.3% | 1.2% | — | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,832 | Bear Creek AK | 1,732 | $96K | 3.1% | 6.7% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,067 | Kodiak Station AK | 1,823 | $84K | 3.2% | 0.0% | — | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,461 | Syracuse NE | 2,006 | $72K | 6.7% | 2.2% | 19% | B− |
| 2,462 | Phillipston MA | 1,794 | $95K | 5.7% | 9.8% | 4% | B− |
| 2,463 | Haines AK | 1,757 | $87K | 5.2% | 5.8% | — | B− |
| 2,464 | Upper Lake CA | 1,374 | $110K | 10.5% | 2.2% | 14% | B− |
| 2,465 | Passapatanzy VA | 1,259 | $126K | 25.7% | 6.0% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Haines, 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 Haines: questions
What is the median household income in Haines?
$86,719 (±$18,123) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $92,788 across Alaska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Haines?
5.2%, against 10.1% across Alaska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Haines?
13 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Alaska and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Is Haines walkable?
Haines is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Haines without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Haines, from the people who make the trip.
More of Haines
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.