Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 706: a town settled in 1951.
Kipnuk’s average trip to work is 5 minutes, where Alaska’s towns sit at 21 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Of the 42 Alaska towns we compare, none has a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Kipnuk. 16% of the land in Kipnuk is conserved, where Alaska’s towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Kipnuk has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Census counts: 144 in 1940, 704 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and a map from 1954 on.
Kipnuk is unincorporated, so Bethel Census Area and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Kipnuk.
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Kipnuk after 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2025. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 99% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 88% come from cold waves and 6% from inland flooding.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools: the Lower Kuskokwim School District. Its one school is below. Kipnuk’s only public school teaches 222 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Paul Memorial SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 222 | – |
NCES · EDFacts
5.6 miles of trail. For Kipnuk, the trail density is 0.3 miles per square mile.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Among adults in Kipnuk, 24% report frequent mental distress. No town among the 42 in Alaska we compare has a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Kipnuk. Two figures for adults here: 37% smoke cigarettes, 17% have diabetes. CDC measures, 32 in all: Kipnuk beats Alaska on 1 and trails on 26.
| Kipnuk | Alaska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 18% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 16% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 8.8% | 12% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Kipnuk | AK |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.1% | 7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 45.2% | 13.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
CDP in Alaska, United States
Kipnuk (Central Yupik: Qipneq) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census, Kipnuk had a population of 704. Kipnuk consists mostly of Yup'ik speaking Native Alaskans; the name means a "bend" referring to the bend in the (Qukaqliq) Kugkaktlik River where it is situated. The original settlement was situated along "Nukallpiarcunarli", a slough feeding into the (Qukaqliq) Kugkaktlik. This slough was thus named, because it was hard to detect. It was ideal for ambushing "Nukallpiaqs" or warrior/providers.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Kipnuk has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures below are still real.