Juneau, the state capital · MacKinnon Apartments · Photo: NoeHill · CC BY-SA 3.0How Alaska stacks up
Only one state reports more violent crime per resident: in Alaska, 736.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2025. Spending and results part ways in its schools: 14th in spending per pupil, 48th on the Nation’s Report Card. Overall it ranks 50th of 51, a D−.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
50th of 51D−2/100 Crime is a real weak spot. The FBI’s 2025 estimate puts violent crime at 736 per 100,000 residents, the 2nd highest rate of the 50 states and D.C.
Add property crime, weighted as our town grades weigh it, and it ranks 3rd highest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Alaska has too few towns of 10,000+ to compare town by town; its grade rests on the official figure.
Schools
49th of 51D−3/100 Among the weakest school results in the country. The money outruns the results: 14th in spending, 48th on the test. Measured on the one test every state gives, 24% of its students reach Proficient (4th lowest). Even its best town, Knik-Fairview, ranks #4,066 of 5,230 nationally.
In the class of 2023, 77.9% graduated on time, 4th lowest; graduation counts as much as test results in the grade.
Spending: $21,070 per pupil, 14th highest. Shown for context, not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 8 Alaska towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
44th of 51D14/100 Living here costs more than in most states. Homes cost 3.8 times the typical household income, and the median tax bill is $3,901 (14th highest). Few residents live in a top-quarter town; its best showing is Wasilla, #1,591 nationally.
Home values run 3.8 times the median household income, 23rd lowest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 8 Alaska towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
40th of 51C−22/100 Less healthy than most states. Top-quarter towns are rare here; Juneau comes closest at #1,880. CDC estimates put 19% of adults in fair or poor health, the 25th lowest share among the states. The statewide figure flatters its larger towns; smaller places and the countryside lift it.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 8 Alaska towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
31st of 51C+40/100 Ownership a notch below average. About 7 in 10 homes are lived in by their owners (20th lowest). Town by town it lands near the middle, with Knik-Fairview its best at #744 of 5,235.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 8 Alaska towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
41st of 51C−20/100 Higher hazard risk than most states. Big places drag it down: Anchorage and Fairbanks rank in the national bottom quarter. Alaska ranks 3rd highest for expected hazard damage: $278 a year per $100,000 of buildings. Earthquakes lead the list (83%), then tsunamis (6%).
The federal government declared 20 major disasters here between 2015 and 2025 (6th most).
What drives it: earthquake 83%, tsunami 6%, wildfire 6% of expected building damage.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 8 Alaska towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
7th of 51A88/100 Easy commutes for most. The longest trips start in places like Knik-Fairview, in the national bottom quarter. The average trip to work takes 19.4 minutes, 7 minutes shorter than the national average. 86% of residents live in a top-quarter town; Fairbanks ranks highest, at #98.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 8 Alaska towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
41st of 51C−20/100 Slow growth. At +3.3% from 2010 to 2020, growth here was the 15th slowest among the states. Big places drag it down: Anchorage and Badger rank in the national bottom quarter.
Building: 1.8 new homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025, 4th fewest.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 7 Alaska towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How Alaska compares to its neighbors
Next to Washington, it comes out ahead on cost of living, housing and the commute and behind on safety, schools and health.
| Alaska | Washington | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | D− 250th of 51 | C+ 4230th of 51 |
| Safety | D− 250th official · 0% in top towns | B− 4824th official · 5% in top towns |
| Schools | D− 348th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 6818th official · 16% in top towns |
| Cost of living | D 1438th official · 0% in top towns | D 1242nd official · <1% in top towns |
| Health | C− 2225th official · 0% in top towns | A− 8010th official · 39% in top towns |
| Housing | C+ 4032nd official · 9% in top towns | C− 2440th official · 9% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | C− 2049th official · 7% in top towns | C 3444th official · 10% in top towns |
| Commute | A 886th official · 86% in top towns | C 3238th official · 19% in top towns |
| Growth | C− 2037th official · 7% in top towns | A 928th official · 63% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work