Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Anchorage's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Anchorage?
Your $100,000 in Anchorage has the same purchasing power as $92,876 in the average US city. You'd need $7,124 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Within 10 points of Anchorage's cost index of 108, sorted by closest match.
Anchorage has a handful of real selling points, and they're not the kind of thing you find in a brochure. Alaska doesn't tax your paycheck and solidly above-average earnings are the headliners, plus 2 more things worth knowing. The rest is below.
Living in Anchorage means no state income tax on your salary — Alaska is one of nine states that simply doesn't have one. On a $100k income that's typically thousands of dollars a year that stay in your account instead of going to a state revenue department.
The typical household in Anchorage pulls in $95,731 — comfortably above the US median. Combined with the cost of living here, the income-to-expense ratio works out better than a quick look at either number in isolation would suggest.
Average AQI in Anchorage comes in around 24, well into the "good" band. Clean air isn't a thing you appreciate until you've lived somewhere it wasn't — and this is the side of that line you want to be on.
Average commute time in Anchorage runs around 19 minutes one-way — short enough that it doesn't restructure your day. Compared to the 45-plus-minute commutes that are normal in major metros, the difference adds up to a real lifestyle gap.
Reasons are pulled from Anchorage's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Yes — and a lot of it. With winter averages near 13°F, Anchorage sees real accumulation most years. Salt for the steps, tires that handle ice, and a sense of humor about February are the usual costs of admission.
Properly cold. Anchorage's winter sits around 13°F on average — and that's the average, meaning plenty of nights drop well below zero. People here own gear.
Anchorage skips real summer heat. With averages around 65°F, the season is more "long days and t-shirts" than "outdoor work canceled by 11am".
Anchorage falls in roughly USDA Zone 6. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Roughly 4,075 feet (1,242 m) above sea level. At that altitude, the first few days for a coastal visitor can feel mildly off — shorter breath on stairs, faster fatigue — but it normalizes quickly.
Middle of the pack. Anchorage comes in around 3,963 per 100,000, basically the national average. The interesting question is usually which neighborhood, not which city — that's where the real variation lives.
It's a middle-of-the-road US city on cost. Anchorage's index of 108 sits within a few points of the national average — your money buys roughly what it would in a typical American metro.
Anchorage's Walk Score is 0/100, firmly in the car-required tier. Transit Score is 0 out of 100. The layout assumes you'll drive to the grocery store, drive to work, drive everywhere.
As a rule of thumb, plan on about $75,369 to live in Anchorage the way a $70,000 earner lives in a typical US city. The math gets less forgiving the lower you go below that. Median rent in Anchorage runs about $1,405/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.