Photo: Wanetta Ayers · Public domainUnalaska’s household incomes are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 6 minutes each way, next to 19 for Alaska and 26 for the U.S. Below the poverty line: 9.6% of residents, next to 10.1% for Alaska as a whole. Unalaska grades B− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Why Unalaska gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Unalaska is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #11 of 41 in Alaska. Household income holds Unalaska’s grade up ($131,964, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Unalaska could be anywhere from C to B+.
About 6 minutes each way for Unalaska’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Unalaska workers work from home, vs 10% across Alaska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,086 commuters (the 8% 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.
Unalaska is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Unalaska is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #21 of 41 in Alaska. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 39.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 9.9% across Alaska, on an EPA index of 3.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,367 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). 3.9% of Unalaska households have no vehicle (Alaska 9.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Unalaska’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Unalaska ranks: 2,096th of 4,039 U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 853 | Farmers Loop AK | 4,954 | $110K | 1.8% | 2.8% | — | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,585 | Goldstream AK | 3,294 | $104K | 4.7% | 3.7% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,596 | Mill Bay AK | 3,654 | $89K | 9.0% | 0.0% | — | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,094 | Colebrookdale Township PA | 5,184 | $90K | 10.3% | 9.0% | 6% | B− |
| 2,095 | Northwoods MO | 3,579 | $45K | 24.8% | 1.4% | 2% | B− |
| 2,096 | Unalaska AK | 4,306 | $132K | 9.6% | 4.3% | — | B− |
| 2,097 | Odessa Township MI | 3,966 | $78K | 9.0% | 5.2% | 16% | B− |
| 2,098 | Val Verde Park TX | 3,139 | $62K | 10.4% | 0.0% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Unalaska, 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 Unalaska: questions
What is the median household income in Unalaska?
$131,964 (±$15,351) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $92,788 across Alaska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Unalaska?
9.6%, against 10.1% across Alaska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Unalaska?
6 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Alaska and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Is Unalaska walkable?
Unalaska is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 3.9 out of 20, and 40% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Unalaska without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Unalaska, from the people who make the trip.
More of Unalaska
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.