Counties / Alaska / Denali Borough

Denali Borough, AK

FIPS 02068 · population 1,969 · outside every metro area

$275k
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
$275k
survey estimate; not a current listing or sale price
Census ACS · surveyed
ACS median gross rent
$825
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
$1,187
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Owner-reported value$275k
Surveyed gross rent$825
Rent burden 30%+25.9%
Median year built1989
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
56.6%vacant
1,301estimated housing units
Occupied tenure35.0% renter
owner 65.0%renter 35.0%
Structure mix83.2% single-family
Single-family 83.2%20+ units 2.4%Mobile home 6.8%Other 7.5%
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 jobs2,058▲ 4.7% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments149annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,325▲ 2.8% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorLeisure and hospitality61.9% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+4.7%WEEKLY WAGE+2.8%Leisure and hospitality61.9%
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

Denali Borough is a small, thin-observation underwriting case: 1,969 residents and the available 2025 QCEW evidence shows 2,058 annual-average covered jobs, up 4.73%. The constructive signal is workplace employment, not verified housing absorption. Leisure and hospitality, the largest disclosed private supersector, accounts for 61.85% of private covered employment, concentrating exposure. An investor requiring stable, diversified tenancy should be cautious; an operator able to verify asset-level demand should investigate further.

02Housing economics

Housing economics cannot yet produce a return case. ACS 2024 five-year estimates put owner-reported median value of owner-occupied homes at $275,000 and surveyed gross rent for occupied units at $825; these cover different housing populations and are neither current transaction nor asking measures. The same survey reports 56.57% vacancy, a descriptive estimate needing unit-level validation. HUD's $1,187 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market asking rent. Because market rent is not published, gross yield cannot be computed; no effective property-tax rate is published, so recurring carrying costs cannot be bounded.

03Demand & competition

Demand evidence is mixed and too sparse to label buyer depth. Tax-return migration was net positive by 3 households, but the average income of incoming mover households was $9,998 below that of outgoing movers. Non-owner purchase mortgages accounted for 11.76% of 17 purchase mortgages, showing some investor participation but not cash-buyer activity or renter demand. Although Realtor.com inventory is labeled 2026-06, no MLS median listing price, active-listing count, days on market, or price-reduction share is supplied. Consequently, visible asking-price conditions, supply, and seller concessions cannot be assessed.

04Risk & next checks

Risk limits are material. Modeled climate loss equals 0.33% of building value per year and earthquake is the dominant hazard; this pairs a modeled loss measure with the named exposure, rather than a property-specific damage estimate. There is no Zillow county value series or FHFA annual HPI observation, preventing a current market-price or repeat-transaction appreciation check. Next, obtain property-tax bills, insurance and seismic details, current achieved and asking rents, lease-roll data, and MLS or closed-sale comparables. Verify seasonal employer dependence and vacancy at the subject property before relying on county averages.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Denali Borough

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
Denali Park CDP819Healy CDP670Anderson city140Cantwell CDP128Ferry CDP22
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
    Denali Park CDPCensus-designated place
    819
  2. 02
    Healy CDPCensus-designated place
    670
  3. 03
    Anderson cityIncorporated place
    140
  4. 04
    Cantwell CDPCensus-designated place
    128
  5. 05
    Ferry CDPCensus-designated place
    22

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

0.326% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property taxn/a

Annual bill n/a

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+3

85 in · 82 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$9,998

$61,965 arriving · $71,963 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors11.8%

2 of 17 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. Workplace employment growth may not translate into durable renter or buyer demand in a leisure-and-hospitality-concentrated economy.
  2. Absent current market rent, property-tax data, and market-price evidence prevent a supported cash-flow or valuation conclusion.
  3. Earthquake exposure and modeled climate loss may create property-specific insurance, repair, or financing constraints not visible in county averages.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Current market rent is not published, and HUD two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard rather than asking rent.

What does the recorded employment measure represent?

It is QCEW annual covered employment at workplaces in the county, not resident employment or an unemployment measure.

Do the supplied Realtor.com data establish listing-market conditions?

No. The record labels a Realtor.com inventory period but supplies no listing price, inventory, marketing-time, or price-reduction figures.