Counties / Alaska / Matanuska-Susitna Borough

Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK

FIPS 02170 · population 112,988 · part of Anchorage, AK

$410k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
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.

Zillow home value
$410k
▲ 8.9% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$2,015
▲ 2.2% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
5.9%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,376
market rent is 1.46x the standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+50.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+8.9%FHFA HPI2025+5.3%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$347k
Surveyed gross rent$1,299
Rent burden 30%+52.6%
Median year built1997
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
22.1%vacant
51,170estimated housing units
Occupied tenure22.8% renter
owner 77.2%renter 22.8%
Structure mix84.9% single-family
Single-family 84.9%20+ units 1.4%Mobile home 2.6%Other 11.1%
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 jobs29,956▲ 1.5% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments2,914annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,178▲ 5.0% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services25.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.5%WEEKLY WAGE+5.0%Education and health services25.2%
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

Matanuska-Susitna Borough presents a price-to-income tension: Zillow’s 2026-06 county median home value is $410,373, while its measured median asking rent is $2,015 per month and stated gross yield is 5.89%. This setup merits investigation by investors able to validate property-level expenses and rents, not by buyers treating headline appreciation as cash flow. The yield is before taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancy and financing; usable net return is unshown.

02Housing economics

Zillow’s 2026-06 home-value observation should not be merged with FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI: FHFA rose 5.29% over its annual measure and 50.06% cumulatively over its stated five-year measure, confirming positive index direction at a different vintage rather than setting a dollar value. HUD FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot replace measured market rent. The 1.06% effective property-tax rate and $3,685 median annual tax sharpen carrying-cost review.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com MLS evidence shows 537 active listings, 42 median days on market, and 17.41% of listings with price reductions. These are visible supply, marketing-time and seller-concession indicators—not closed prices or proof of buyer demand. Net migration was 371 tax-return households; inbound movers’ average income exceeded outbound movers’ by $13,278, a composition signal that identifies neither renters nor purchasers. Investors accounted for 49 of 1,588 purchase mortgages, or 3.09%; that measures non-owner mortgage participation rather than all investor purchases. QCEW is annual covered employment at county workplaces, not resident employment, unemployment or a forecast; education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy.

04Risk & next checks

Earthquake is the dominant hazard, while modeled climate loss equals 0.39% of building value per year; this model metric is not a site-specific insurance quote or loss forecast. Missing property-level insurance, seismic condition, utility, vacancy, capital-expenditure, financing and lease data prevent a net-yield or resilience conclusion. Next checks are earthquake coverage terms, inspection findings, achieved rents, operating expenses and the specific location of tenant and buyer demand.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Matanuska-Susitna 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
Knik-Fairview CDP20KNorth Lakes CDP10.2KWasilla city9.7KTanaina CDP9.6KMeadow Lakes CDP8.7KGateway CDP6.8KPalmer city6.3KSouth Lakes CDP6.2K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

30 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Knik-Fairview CDPCensus-designated place
    19,972
  2. 02
    North Lakes CDPCensus-designated place
    10,223
  3. 03
    Wasilla cityIncorporated place
    9,720
  4. 04
    Tanaina CDPCensus-designated place
    9,646
  5. 05
    Meadow Lakes CDPCensus-designated place
    8,689
  6. 06
    Gateway CDPCensus-designated place
    6,845
  7. 07
    Palmer cityIncorporated place
    6,268
  8. 08
    South Lakes CDPCensus-designated place
    6,180
  9. 09
    Fishhook CDPCensus-designated place
    5,819
  10. 10
    Butte CDPCensus-designated place
    4,085
  11. 11
    Big Lake CDPCensus-designated place
    3,585
  12. 12
    Farm Loop CDPCensus-designated place
    2,894
Show 18 more places
  1. 13
    Houston cityIncorporated place
    1,834
  2. 14
    Willow CDPCensus-designated place
    1,815
  3. 15
    Point MacKenzie CDPCensus-designated place
    1,668
  4. 16
    Sutton-Alpine CDPCensus-designated place
    1,598
  5. 17
    Susitna North CDPCensus-designated place
    1,566
  6. 18
    Lazy Mountain CDPCensus-designated place
    1,459
  7. 19
    Talkeetna CDPCensus-designated place
    944
  8. 20
    Knik River CDPCensus-designated place
    883
  9. 21
    Buffalo Soapstone CDPCensus-designated place
    739
  10. 22
    Trapper Creek CDPCensus-designated place
    491
  11. 23
    Chickaloon CDPCensus-designated place
    333
  12. 24
    Glacier View CDPCensus-designated place
    308
  13. 25
    Skwentna CDPCensus-designated place
    97
  14. 26
    Petersville CDPCensus-designated place
    53
  15. 27
    Susitna CDPCensus-designated place
    31
  16. 28
    Chase CDPCensus-designated place
    29
  17. 29
    Eureka Roadhouse CDPCensus-designated place
    0
  18. 30
    Lake Louise 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

0.393% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.06%

$3,685 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+371

3,107 in · 2,736 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$13,278

$76,650 arriving · $63,372 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors3.1%

49 of 1,588 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 listings537▲ 11.9% year over year
Median days on market42▼ 8.7% year over year
Listings price-reduced17.4%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 4.8% year over year

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

Same metro

The other counties in Anchorage, AK

A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.

CountyPopulationPriceRentYieldHazard
Matanuska-Susitna Borough112,988$410k$2,0155.9%earthquake
Anchorage Municipality288,976$437k$1,7554.8%earthquake
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Property-level taxes, insurance, repairs, vacancy or financing could erase the gross-yield screen.
  2. MLS listings and migration do not establish closed-sale pricing, leasing depth or neighborhood demand.
  3. County-level modeled climate loss may miss site-specific earthquake vulnerability and coverage exclusions.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is HUD FMR an estimate of asking rent?

No. The record identifies HUD FMR as a payment standard, separate from measured median asking market rent.

Can net rental yield be calculated from this record?

No. Gross yield is published, but property-level insurance, maintenance, vacancy, financing and other operating costs are not published.

What does the FHFA metric measure?

It is a repeat-transaction home-price appreciation index, not a dollar home value.