Photo: STONE8HENGE · Public domainAnchorage has higher household incomes than 98% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 22% of workers, where Kentucky as a whole has 10%. 11.9% of residents are in poverty, where Kentucky as a whole has 16.1%. The two grades for Anchorage are A− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Anchorage apart
Anchorage and Louisville trade workers both ways
Louisville is the top workplace for Anchorage residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Anchorage come from (29% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Anchorage has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Anchorage went from 560 in 2013 to 907 in 2023, +62%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Anchorage works from home
22% of Anchorage workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Anchorage’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Anchorage is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #25 of 142 in Kentucky. Household income holds Anchorage’s grade up ($199,375, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Anchorage could be anywhere from B− to A+.
21% of working residents work in Louisville
Where Anchorage clocks in
6% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Anchorage
907 jobs are based in Anchorage.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Anchorage, 2013 → 2023: 560 → 907. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Anchorage’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from Anchorage
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Anchorage workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 920 commuters (the 22% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,058 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 891 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Miles to work from Anchorage
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Anchorage gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Anchorage is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #93 of 142 in Kentucky. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,183 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 16% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Anchorage households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Anchorage’s commuters take a bus or train.
Anchorage next to U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,400: 767th of 4,868 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 15 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Windy Hills KY | 2,476 | $131K | 5.1% | 1.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 765 | Harrison Township OH | 2,273 | $72K | 2.5% | 0.6% | 1% | A− |
| 766 | Olga FL | 3,282 | $94K | 2.8% | 3.3% | 4% | A− |
| 767 | Anchorage KY | 2,547 | $199K | 11.9% | 4.1% | 1% | A− |
| 768 | Yorkville NY | 2,572 | $73K | 4.2% | 2.8% | 2% | A− |
| 769 | Canterbury NH | 2,463 | $129K | 5.4% | 3.0% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,868 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Anchorage, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Anchorage and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Middletown (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Anchorage workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | – | A− | C+ | 22 min | $199,375 |
| Middletown | 5% | B+ | B | 19 min | $82,537 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Anchorage’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. 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 Anchorage: questions
What is the median household income in Anchorage?
$199,375 (±$62,098) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Anchorage?
11.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Anchorage?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Anchorage work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Louisville (21%, 9 mi), St. Matthews (6%, 6 mi), Jeffersontown (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Anchorage walkable?
Anchorage is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Anchorage without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Anchorage, from the people who make the trip.
More of Anchorage
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. 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.