Counties / Alaska / Chugach Census Area

Chugach Census Area, AK

FIPS 02063 · population 6,862 · outside every metro area

$346k
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
$346k
survey estimate; not a current listing or sale price
Census ACS · surveyed
ACS median gross rent
$1,369
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
$1,506
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Owner-reported value$346k
Surveyed gross rent$1,369
Rent burden 30%+36.3%
Median year built1979
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
27.1%vacant
3,922estimated housing units
Occupied tenure36.3% renter
owner 63.7%renter 36.3%
Structure mix58.4% single-family
Single-family 58.4%20+ units 7.6%Mobile home 17.6%Other 16.4%
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 jobs3,616▲ 0.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments400annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,508▲ 4.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities32.4% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.6%WEEKLY WAGE+4.6%Trade, transportation, and utilities32.4%
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

Chugach Census Area is an investigate-not-assume case: workplace payroll edged up, yet migration and survey vacancy call for caution from buyers relying on stable tenant depth or resale momentum. QCEW shows 3,616 annual average covered jobs at county workplaces, a 0.64% annual increase. That is covered workplace employment—not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast—and Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector. Current appreciation cannot be tested because no county Zillow series or FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI observation is published.

02Housing economics

ACS 2024 5-year survey estimates give an owner-reported median value of $346,200 for owner-occupied homes and a surveyed gross rent of $1,369 for occupied units. They cover different housing populations and are neither current asking measures nor transaction prices; they cannot be combined into a yield. HUD's two-bedroom FMR of $1,506 is a payment standard, not market rent, so gross yield cannot be computed. The 0.98% effective tax rate and $3,379 median annual tax frame carrying costs; the 27.05% vacancy estimate is descriptive, not a forecast.

03Demand & competition

Tax-return migration data show net outmigration of 28 households, with departing households’ average AGI $18,916 above arrivals’. This is movement evidence, not a demand forecast, but it warrants tenant-depth and replacement-income checks. Investors accounted for 10% of 60 purchase mortgages. That measures non-occupant mortgage participation, not cash purchases or all buyer demand; it neither proves broad competition nor establishes that financed investor purchases became rentals.

04Risk & next checks

Earthquake is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss equals 0.28% of building value per year. That modeled loss is not an insurance quote; obtain site-specific seismic exposure, insurance availability and deductibles, rebuilding constraints, and property condition. The record supplies no Realtor.com listing-price, active-listing, marketing-time, or price-reduction figure, blocking assessment of MLS asking-price positioning, visible supply, and seller concessions. Confirm current asking rents and lease occupancy before testing income against carrying costs; absent current sales evidence also prevents a value-trend conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Chugach 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
Valdez city3.8KCordova city2.5KWhittier city411Chenega CDP37Tatitlek CDP20
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

5 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Valdez cityIncorporated place
    3,847
  2. 02
    Cordova cityIncorporated place
    2,453
  3. 03
    Whittier cityIncorporated place
    411
  4. 04
    Chenega CDPCensus-designated place
    37
  5. 05
    Tatitlek CDPCensus-designated place
    20

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 hazardearthquake

0.275% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.98%

$3,379 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-28

222 in · 250 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$18,916

$62,288 arriving · $81,204 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors10.0%

6 of 60 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. Current asking rents, achieved rents, and lease occupancy may not support carrying costs.
  2. Earthquake exposure, insurance terms, or property condition may exceed modeled-loss context.
  3. Survey vacancy and net outmigration may coincide with weaker tenant depth than workplace job growth suggests.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

What prevents a gross-yield calculation?

Market rent is not published. ACS gross rent is a survey measure and HUD FMR is a payment standard, so neither can be substituted for market asking rent.

Is current county price direction available?

No. The record has neither a county Zillow home-value series nor an FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI observation.

What does the investor-share measure cover?

It measures non-occupant purchase mortgages, not cash purchases or all buyer activity.