Counties / Alaska / Bethel Census Area

Bethel Census Area, AK

FIPS 02050 · population 18,394 · outside every metro area

$168k
ACS owner-reported value · ACS 2024 5-year
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

ACS owner-reported value
$168k
survey estimate; not a current listing or sale price
Census ACS · surveyed
ACS median gross rent
$1,474
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,938
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Owner-reported value$168k
Surveyed gross rent$1,474
Rent burden 30%+22.9%
Median year built1988
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
19.7%vacant
6,011estimated housing units
Occupied tenure38.4% renter
owner 61.6%renter 38.4%
Structure mix82.0% single-family
Single-family 82.0%20+ units 2.6%Mobile home 2.1%Other 13.3%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs6,222▼ 3.2% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments302annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,088▲ 3.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities33.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−3.2%WEEKLY WAGE+3.2%Trade, transportation, and utilities33.2%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Bethel Census Area is a verification-first case: survey housing context sits beside weaker labor and migration readings and inland-flood exposure. Operators able to verify unit rents, insurance, and access should investigate; buyers dependent on appreciation, easy lease-up, or deep buyer pools should be cautious. No Zillow county value series or FHFA index observation is supplied, leaving no current price trend.

02Housing economics

ACS survey medians separate $168,100 owner-reported value of owner-occupied homes from $1,474 surveyed gross rent in occupied units; neither is a current asking or transaction-market measure, and they cannot be combined into yield. Market rent is not published. HUD's $1,938 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, so gross yield cannot be computed. The effective property-tax rate is 0.12%, and median annual tax is $199. The 19.68% survey vacancy rate warrants property-level occupancy checks but is not current listing supply.

03Demand & competition

QCEW annual covered employment at county workplaces was 6,222, down 3.17%, and average covered-worker weekly wage was $1,088. Trade, transportation, and utilities made up 33.17% of private covered jobs: the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Tax-return migration was net negative by 159 households; out-movers averaged $21,117 more AGI than in-movers, a calculation from reported averages. Investor loans were 3.03% of 33 purchase mortgages. This records limited non-occupant participation in a small count, not proof of buyer demand or its absence.

04Risk & next checks

Modeled climate loss is 0.05% of building value per year, with inland flood the dominant hazard; this is a county-level modeled loss ratio, not a parcel insurance quote or damage history. The supplied Realtor.com inventory observation has no listing-price, active-listing, days-on-market, or price-reduction figure. Thus MLS asking-price direction, visible supply, marketing time, and seller concessions are unobserved. Next checks are achievable asking and signed rents, unit vacancy and lease-up, sales and MLS comps, parcel tax treatment, and flood insurance, elevation, deductible, and access terms. Without them, cash flow, value direction, and site-specific risk cannot be underwritten.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Bethel Census Area

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Bethel city6.3KQuinhagak city1.3KKwethluk city975Toksook Bay city833Akiachak CDP736Kipnuk CDP706Kasigluk CDP698Chefornak city620
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

35 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Bethel cityIncorporated place
    6,312
  2. 02
    Quinhagak cityIncorporated place
    1,311
  3. 03
    Kwethluk cityIncorporated place
    975
  4. 04
    Toksook Bay cityIncorporated place
    833
  5. 05
    Akiachak CDPCensus-designated place
    736
  6. 06
    Kipnuk CDPCensus-designated place
    706
  7. 07
    Kasigluk CDPCensus-designated place
    698
  8. 08
    Chefornak cityIncorporated place
    620
  9. 09
    Nunapitchuk cityIncorporated place
    618
  10. 10
    Aniak cityIncorporated place
    585
  11. 11
    Napakiak cityIncorporated place
    556
  12. 12
    Kwigillingok CDPCensus-designated place
    545
Show 23 more places
  1. 13
    Tuntutuliak CDPCensus-designated place
    514
  2. 14
    Napaskiak cityIncorporated place
    447
  3. 15
    Tununak CDPCensus-designated place
    384
  4. 16
    Akiak cityIncorporated place
    377
  5. 17
    Kongiganak CDPCensus-designated place
    316
  6. 18
    Mekoryuk cityIncorporated place
    287
  7. 19
    Lower Kalskag cityIncorporated place
    239
  8. 20
    Upper Kalskag cityIncorporated place
    239
  9. 21
    Eek cityIncorporated place
    174
  10. 22
    Tuluksak CDPCensus-designated place
    118
  11. 23
    Goodnews Bay cityIncorporated place
    115
  12. 24
    Nightmute cityIncorporated place
    93
  13. 25
    Atmautluak CDPCensus-designated place
    88
  14. 26
    Chuathbaluk cityIncorporated place
    82
  15. 27
    Sleetmute CDPCensus-designated place
    48
  16. 28
    Platinum cityIncorporated place
    43
  17. 29
    Oscarville CDPCensus-designated place
    42
  18. 30
    Newtok CDPCensus-designated place
    36
  19. 31
    Stony River CDPCensus-designated place
    29
  20. 32
    Crooked Creek CDPCensus-designated place
    17
  21. 33
    Mertarvik CDPCensus-designated place
    12
  22. 34
    Red Devil CDPCensus-designated place
    3
  23. 35
    Lime Village CDPCensus-designated place
    0

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.052% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.12%

$199 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-159

193 in · 352 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$21,117

$55,301 arriving · $76,418 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors3.0%

1 of 33 mortgages

investorother financed
No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Achievable rent, lease-up, and current vacancy may differ from ACS survey indicators.
  2. Absent Zillow, FHFA, and MLS metrics leave value direction and market liquidity unobserved.
  3. Parcel flood exposure, insurance terms, and access may diverge from the county-level model.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

What prevents a gross-yield calculation?

Market rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot substitute for market rent.

What does QCEW employment represent?

It represents annual covered jobs located at county workplaces, not resident employment or unemployment.

What does the investor metric establish?

It records non-occupant purchase-mortgage participation, but it does not establish broader buyer demand.