Counties / Alaska / Copper River Census Area

Copper River Census Area, AK

FIPS 02066 · population 2,626 · outside every metro area

$293k
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
$293k
survey estimate; not a current listing or sale price
Census ACS · surveyed
ACS median gross rent
$1,089
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
$1,130
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Owner-reported value$293k
Surveyed gross rent$1,089
Rent burden 30%+25.4%
Median year built1985
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
50.6%vacant
2,442estimated housing units
Occupied tenure31.5% renter
owner 68.5%renter 31.5%
Structure mix84.7% single-family
Single-family 84.7%20+ units 0.1%Mobile home 6.6%Other 8.7%
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 jobs1,091▼ 1.4% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments146annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,126▲ 3.0% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities30.3% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.4%WEEKLY WAGE+3.0%Trade, transportation, and utilities30.3%
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

Copper River presents an evidence-limited underwriting tension: the supplied ACS survey reports vacancy while Realtor.com reports rising MLS asks. Buyers requiring dependable lease-up and resale evidence should be cautious; local investigators should test whether the visible listing market is sufficiently tradable. The ACS 2024 5-year estimate puts vacancy at 50.57%. This is descriptive housing-stock evidence, not a forecast or a count of units available for a specific rental strategy.

02Housing economics

No current county market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD's two-bedroom FMR is $1,130 monthly, but it is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate. Separately, ACS reports a $292,800 owner-reported median value for owner-occupied homes and $1,089 surveyed gross rent for occupied units. They cover different housing populations, are not current market measures, and must not be paired into yield. The effective property-tax rate is 0.07%. Operating costs and insurance pricing are not published, leaving carrying-cost screening incomplete.

03Demand & competition

At Realtor.com's 2026-06 observation, median MLS listing price was 16.36% higher year over year and median days on market were 51; the recorded price-reduced share flags seller concessions. These are active-listing asking-market measures, not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand. QCEW's 2025 annual covered workplace employment fell 1.45%, while the largest disclosed private supersector, Trade, transportation, and utilities, accounted for 30.32% of total private covered jobs. Net migration was 19 tax-return households, with inbound average AGI $3,808 above outbound. Recorded investor participation was 0% across 10 purchases. These county-level flows, workplace data, and small purchase count do not establish tenant demand or buyer competition.

04Risk & next checks

Earthquake is the named dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss equals 0.28% of building value per year; that county-level model is not a parcel-specific insurance quote or damage estimate. No Zillow county home-value series or FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI observation is supplied, so price direction cannot be cross-checked across methods. Next checks are parcel seismic exposure and insurance terms, current lease comparables, the composition of survey vacancy, and closed-sale comparables. Those omissions prevent a current valuation and net-return conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Copper River 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
Glennallen CDP450Tazlina CDP365Copper Center CDP346Kenny Lake CDP289Gakona CDP181Nelchina CDP149Willow Creek CDP144Slana CDP119
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

20 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Glennallen CDPCensus-designated place
    450
  2. 02
    Tazlina CDPCensus-designated place
    365
  3. 03
    Copper Center CDPCensus-designated place
    346
  4. 04
    Kenny Lake CDPCensus-designated place
    289
  5. 05
    Gakona CDPCensus-designated place
    181
  6. 06
    Nelchina CDPCensus-designated place
    149
  7. 07
    Willow Creek CDPCensus-designated place
    144
  8. 08
    Slana CDPCensus-designated place
    119
  9. 09
    Chitina CDPCensus-designated place
    100
  10. 10
    Mentasta Lake CDPCensus-designated place
    96
  11. 11
    Tolsona CDPCensus-designated place
    76
  12. 12
    Silver Springs CDPCensus-designated place
    71
Show 8 more places
  1. 13
    Chistochina CDPCensus-designated place
    58
  2. 14
    Gulkana CDPCensus-designated place
    47
  3. 15
    Tonsina CDPCensus-designated place
    47
  4. 16
    Mendeltna CDPCensus-designated place
    41
  5. 17
    Paxson CDPCensus-designated place
    17
  6. 18
    McCarthy CDPCensus-designated place
    3
  7. 19
    Chisana CDPCensus-designated place
    0
  8. 20
    Nabesna 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 hazardearthquake

0.277% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.07%

$199 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+19

97 in · 78 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$3,808

$60,680 arriving · $56,872 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors0.0%

0 of 10 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings29▲ 23.4% year over year
Median days on market51▼ 55.6% year over year
Listings price-reduced15.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 16.4% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

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. The ACS vacancy estimate may not represent rentable, available units, so actual lease-up conditions could differ.
  2. The small purchase count and MLS asking-price evidence may not represent executable sale pricing or buyer competition.
  3. Countywide climate-loss modeling may not capture a parcel's earthquake exposure, insurance terms, or physical condition.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. County market rent is not published, and the $1,130 HUD two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than market rent.

What measured investor competition is recorded?

Investor participation was 0%, or zero of 10 recorded purchases.

What hazard metric is documented?

Earthquake is the dominant hazard, with modeled climate loss of 0.28% of building value per year.