TanainaAK
A town of 9,646. Public schools that outperform most of Alaska.
Is Tanaina a good place to live?
Tanaina is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, ranked 21st of 41 in Alaska, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its public schools beat 77% of Alaska towns on state tests and graduation. A typical home there costs about $328K, 3.3 years of the Anchorage metro’s $101K median household income. Tanaina’s mean commuting time is 38 minutes, above both the Alaska town median (20 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Only 5 of Alaska’s 68 towns score lower on walkability. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 93% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top.
What makes Tanaina stand out
Where Tanaina beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
How Tanaina grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alaska), ordered by how far Tanaina is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Tanaina: who provides what
Tanaina is unincorporated, so Matanuska-Susitna Borough 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Tanaina.
Tanaina has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Alaska.
Very high risk in Tanaina, with earthquakes at the top
FEMA puts 89% of Tanaina’s expected hazard losses down to earthquakes, and 7% to inland flooding. Flood insurance has paid one claim locally since 2014.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Tanaina’s grade for schools is an A−
The public schools here belong to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. The largest public high school is Twindly Bridge Charter School, with 601 students. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanaina ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 324 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AK on state tests and graduation
Conserved land covers nearly a third of Tanaina
For Tanaina, the concentration of trails is 0.1 miles per square mile. Trails total 3.9 miles in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Little Susitna Recreation River, at 278 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Little Susitna Recreation River | — | 278 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Tanaina has snowy winters and pleasant summers
The Anderson Lake weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 128 days, shorter than in 95% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 66.8°, cooler than in 100% of U.S. towns; January nights average 10.9°.
About 62 inches of snow falls in a winter. The typical July afternoon high for Tanaina comes to 67°F.
| Tanaina | Alaska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 67°F | 66°F | 85°F |
| January low | 11°F | 7°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Tanaina looks like Alaska by age
In Tanaina, one in ten residents are 65 or older. No age group stands out against Alaska: all are within 4 points. The town’s age of the median resident is 35 years. 25% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Alaska.
| Tanaina | Alaska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 10% | 13% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 26% | 24% | 22% |
| Median age | 35 years | 37 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 25% | 29% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
47.1% women, 52.9% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Across Alaska, 47.5% of residents are women. Median age: women 35.0, men 35.1.
| Tanaina | AK | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.1% | 13.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.8% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.2% | 15.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.1% | 14.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.8% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.2% | 11.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 6.2% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.8% | 4.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.9% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.7% | 28.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.3% | 24% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.6% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.6% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.9% | 11.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Tanaina ranks healthier than 53% of the country’s towns
Within Alaska it is less healthy than 77% of the 41 graded towns: Alaska sets a high bar. Against the 7,793 U.S. towns with household incomes like Tanaina’s, it is less healthy than 74%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
For adults in Tanaina, the share who had a checkup this year is 70%. The town tracks Alaska closely on all 32 CDC measures. Only one of the 41 Alaska towns we compare has a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Tanaina. 18% of adults in Tanaina smoke cigarettes; 38% have obesity.
| Tanaina | Alaska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 68% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 35% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 35% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median home in Tanaina sells for about $435K
A home in Tanaina typically sold within 10 days of listing. Among households locally, 81% live in a home they own. In Tanaina, 38% of sales closed above the list price.
| Tanaina | Alaska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 81% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,398 a month | $1,412 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Tanaina
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Tanaina
About 4 of every 100 Tanaina residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Alaska.
About Tanaina
CDP in Alaska, United States
Tanaina is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located 4 miles north from Wasilla, it is part of the Anchorage, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census the population was 8,817, up from 8,197 in 2010. Tanaina is the sixth-most populated CDP in Alaska.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 31 sq mi
- Elevation
- 499 ft
Tanaina’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Tanaina.
| Town | AK rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tanaina | #21 | C+ | B− | — | A− | B− |
| Fishhook | #27 | C+ | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Meadow Lakes | #35 | C− | C+ | — | A− | B− |
| North Lakes | #22 | C+ | C+ | — | A− | B |
| Wasilla | #40 | C− | C+ | D | A− | C+ |
| Willow | — | — | B | — | A− | C+ |
Willow has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Tanaina, Fishhook, Meadow Lakes, North Lakes and Willow report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Tanaina with a neighbor →
Questions about Tanaina
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Tanaina, AK a good place to live?
Tanaina grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #21 of 41 in Alaska. It grades B− for health and A− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Tanaina, AK expensive?
The typical home is worth about $329,000, 17% below the Alaska typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.