Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,681, settled in 1898. 88% more nonprofits per person than the typical Alaska town.
Trash & recyclingValdez grades B+ overall, 4th of 41 graded towns in Alaska, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 84% of U.S. towns and residents are healthier than 78% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 0% of U.S. communities, with at the top. Valdez’s July high is 64°F, where Alaska’s towns sit at 66°F and U.S. towns at 85°F. No town among the 18 in Alaska we compare has a lower violent crime rate than Valdez. Valdez's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 94% of U.S. towns.
Where Valdez beats most towns.
74.8% of the town is conserved land, across 6 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Alaska), ordered by how far Valdez is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 315 in 1900, a low of 315 in 1900, 3,985 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1902 and 3 maps from 1960 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Valdez, and how to reach them.
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 Valdez.
Valdez keeps more of its land conserved than most of Alaska, gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and sees little violent crime.
Its 128,714 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 95% of Alaska towns.
38 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Nellie Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area, at 527 acres. Valdez’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dock Point | 0.6 mi | 23 |
| 2. Meyring Park South | 0.4 mi | 8 |
| 3. Goldfields Softball Complex | 0.3 mi | 16 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Valdez City School District. Its three schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hermon Hutchens ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 287 | A− |
| Valdez High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 175 | B |
| George H. Gilson Middle SchoolTop results in townGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 143 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AK on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
The property crime rate in Valdez is 3.9 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
66% of adults had a checkup this year in Valdez. Valdez beats the Alaska average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 20% of adults binge drink in Valdez.
| Valdez | Alaska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 66% | 68% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8% | 8.8% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 35% |
| What stands out | Valdez | AK |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.7% | 3.1% |
| More adults seeing a dentist | 63.9% | 59.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Valdez Wso weather station records that 325 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 100% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 64.1°, cooler than in 100% of U.S. towns; January nights average 19.1°.
Valdez has chilly, snowy winters and cool summers, with plenty of rain.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (37% statewide). 9.9% of Valdez residents are 65 or older. Valdez has lost 7.4% of its people since 2020, down to 3,681 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Valdez | Alaska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 9.9% | 13% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 24% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 27% | 29% |
| Median age | 38.4 years | 36.6 years | 40.5 years |
44% women, 56% men
About 130 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.8 points). Across Alaska, 47.5% of residents are women.
| Valdez | AK | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.9% | 13.2% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.9% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.6% | 9.2% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.9% | 15.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 18.7% | 14.2% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.4% | 11.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.7% | 11.9% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.2% | 9.2% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 2.7% | 4.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.6% | 6.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.8% | 28.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.2% | 24% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.5% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.6% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.4% | 11.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,700, single groups can be off by several points
The typical Valdez home is worth about $355,000, up 5.4% in a year, 11% below the Alaska typical home.
| Valdez | Alaska towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 69% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,481 a month | $1,402 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Valdez; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Valdez residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Alaska.
3 notable people were born in Valdez.
Town in Alaska
Valdez ( val-DEEZ; Alutiiq: Suacit) is a city in the Chugach Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. In 2020, the population of Valdez was 3,985, up slightly from 3,976 in 2010. It is the third most populated city in Alaska's Unorganized Borough. Valdez was named in 1790 after the Spanish Navy Minister Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán. A former gold rush town, it is located at the head of Port Valdez on the eastern side of Prince William Sound. Valdez was incorporated in 1901, and flourished after the road link to Fairbanks was constructed in 1910. It suffered catastrophic damage during the 1964 Alaska earthquake, and is located near the site of the disastrous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Valdez grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #4 of 41 in Alaska. It grades A− for health, A− for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
3 notable people were born here, including William Allen Egan and Karl Suessdorf.
