Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska: commercial real estate data.

Northwest Arctic Borough

How many people live in Northwest Arctic Borough

• Population, American Community Survey 2020-20247,441
• Households1,825
• Average household size4.08
• Median household income$84,018
• Median age28.8
• Median gross rent$1,350 per month
• Median owner-occupied home value$199,100
• Home value to household income2.4 times
• Annual rent as a share of median income19.3 percent
• Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher10.6 percent
• Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree4.2 percent
• Adults 25 and over4,007
• Population under 182,777
• Share under 1837.3 percent
• Population 65 and over630
• Share 65 and over8.5 percent
• Working age population, 18 to 644,034
• Civilian labor force2,923
• Unemployment rate16.7 percent
• Labor force participation, adults 18 and over62.7 percent
• Rank by population among Alaska boroughs13th of 30
• Rank by population among US county-equivalents, Puerto Rico included2701st of 3,222

Northwest Arctic Borough is the 13th largest of 30 Alaska boroughs by population. A median home costs 2.4 times median household income, which is affordable by national standards. Residents under 18 outnumber those 65 and over, at 37.3 percent against 8.5 percent, a household formation profile rather than a retirement one.

US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, 2020-2024 5-year.

Northwest Arctic Borough

Where are people moving to Northwest Arctic Borough from?

• Tax returns filed by households arriving48
• People arriving, from those returns95
• Tax returns filed by households leaving134
• Net household movement-86
• Adjusted gross income arriving$2.5 m
• Net adjusted gross income movement$-8.2 m
• Average income of an arriving household$52,354
• Average income of a leaving household$80,127
• Largest single originAnchorage Municipality (23 households)
• Largest single destinationAnchorage Municipality (64 households)

Households arriving report $27,773 less average income than households leaving, which drains spending power even where headcount holds up. The largest single source of arrivals is Anchorage Municipality, which is the catchment a retail or multifamily study should look at first.

US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.

Northwest Arctic Borough

Employment by industry in Northwest Arctic Borough

• Covered employment, annual average2,999
• Establishments reporting148
• Average annual pay$89,651
• Average weekly wage$1,724
• Retail trade, employment163
• Retail trade, average annual pay$39,326
• Construction, employment78
• Construction, average annual pay$127,472
• Information, employment36
• Information, average annual pay$69,843

Retail trade is the largest private sector at 163 jobs, 5.4 percent of covered employment.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages.

Northwest Arctic Borough

Building permits in Northwest Arctic Borough

• Housing units authorized by permit, 20243
• Declared construction value permitted$499,209
• Single family units authorized3
• Multifamily units authorized0
• Multifamily share of units0.0 percent
• Average declared value per unit$166,403
• Units authorized per 1,000 households1.6

Single-family homes are 100.0 percent of units authorized, so the pipeline is predominantly single-family.

US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual.

Northwest Arctic Borough

SBA loan default and charge-off rates in Northwest Arctic Borough

Do SBA loans in Northwest Arctic Borough get paid back?

• Loans with a final outcome recorded2
• Paid in full2
• Charged off0
• Status: Paid in full2
• Status: Exempt from disclosure1

Only 2 loans have reached a final outcome, fewer than the 30 a charge-off rate needs, so no rate is published.

Compare against the national and state SBA charge-off rates, computed the same way over resolved loans only.

US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.

Northwest Arctic Borough

Flood risk in Northwest Arctic Borough

• Participation of the county's own NFIP community Northwest Arctic BoroughParticipating, community 020121
• Communities in the county in the NFIP Community Status Book2
• Of those, participating in the NFIP2
• NFIP participation rate100.0 percent
• Communities carrying a CRS class0
• Radon levels in Northwest Arctic Borough, EPA zone predicted average indoor radon screening level less than 2 pCi/LZone 3

The county's own community in the status book, Northwest Arctic Borough (community 020121), participates in the National Flood Insurance Program and carries no Community Rating System class, so no CRS premium discount applies there. The EPA places Northwest Arctic Borough in radon zone 3, a predicted average indoor radon screening level less than 2 pCi/L. The zone is a screening prediction for the county and does not substitute for a test at an address. 100.0 percent of the county's listed communities participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, per Federal Emergency Management Agency, NFIP Community Status Book (OpenFEMA), as of 2026-09-26.

Federal Emergency Management Agency, NFIP Community Status Book (OpenFEMA), as of 2026-09-26. US EPA, Map of Radon Zones, county spreadsheet, 2024-05 publication, EPA 402/A-16/001.

Feasibility studies

When a Northwest Arctic Borough site needs a document a lender will accept.

The same data layer behind this page is the one the studies are written from. A study for a Northwest Arctic Borough site starts with the figures you are reading, carrying the same source and period into the credit file.

• Population, American Community Survey 2020-20247,441
• Households1,825
• Average household size4.08
• Median household income$84,018
• Median age28.8

How a feasibility study works →

Northwest Arctic Borough

Cities and places in Northwest Arctic.

12 Census places lie wholly or partly in Northwest Arctic Borough. 11 carry enough published place level data for a page of their own and are linked. The rest are named here and not linked, because the American Community Survey and the SBA record between them do not carry enough about them to write an honest page. A place existing is itself worth knowing, so nothing in the county is left out.