City safety & data profile

FairbanksAK

Fairbanks, AK is a 32K-resident city in Fairbanks North Star Borough with a median household income of $73,534.

Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Fairbanks, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Fairbanks has a population larger than 66% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $268,400, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-08-21

32K
Population (place)
Top 34%
By size
$73,534
Median income (place)
$268,400
Median home (place)
8.7%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Fairbanks

Fairbanks posts a median household income higher than 42% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the Fairbanks area.

Bottom 43%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near Fairbanks

Where Fairbanks income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$73,534 Bottom 42% higher than 42% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Fairbanks $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Fairbanks, AK beyond the headline numbers

Fairbanks sits inside Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, at roughly 64.84°N, -147.72°W. Population 32,325, $73,534 median household income. Median home value $268,400, median rent $1,496. Poverty rate 8.7%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around Fairbanks, 2/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER.

At 8.7%, poverty in Fairbanks, AK runs below the midpoint of reporting cities -- enough to matter locally, not enough to dominate the city's profile.

The median home in Fairbanks costs roughly 3.7 times median household income, below the midpoint for reporting cities, so ownership remains reachable on a typical local wage.

Only 5.3% of Fairbanks workers report working from home, the lowest quarter of reporting cities -- an economy still built around showing up somewhere.

Among the CDC measures on this page, binge drinking departs furthest from its peer median: 18.6% in Fairbanks, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

Fairbanks's median age is 29 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Fairbanks from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

Population (place)
32,325
Fairbanks · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$73,534
-18% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$268,400
-35% vs avg
Median Age (place)
29
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Fairbanks North Star Borough): Fairbanks's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
95K-3%
Median Income
$88,267+28%
Median Home Value
$298,200+40%
Poverty Rate
6.1%-27%
Unemployment
4.4%-38%

Economics

Economics indicators for Fairbanks, AK
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,496/mo
Poverty Rate
8.7% -30% vs avg
Unemployment 4.2%
Bachelor's Degree+ 26.2%
Work From Home 5.3%
Public Transit 1.1%

Population

White 57.7%
African American 8.4%
Asian 4.2%
Two or More Ethnicities 18.4%

Health Profile 15 measures

Health Indicators

Short Sleep Duration
38.6%
Obesity
35.5%
High Blood Pressure
28.5%
Physical Inactivity
23.3%
Binge Drinking
18.6%
Frequent Mental Distress
17.7%
Current Smoking
14.9%
Frequent Physical Distress
12.3%
Lack of Health Insurance
11.9%
Current Asthma
10.5%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 58.3%
Annual Checkup 63.4%

Other Measures

Diabetes
7.9%
Coronary Heart Disease
4.5%
Stroke
2.6%

Hospitals 1 total

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
0
★★★
0
★★
1
0
Average Rating
2/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
1
FAIRBANKS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
FAIRBANKS · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★☆☆☆

Alerts & News - Fairbanks Area

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Fairbanks right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

Frequently Asked Questions 6

What is the population of Fairbanks, AK?
Fairbanks, AK has a population of 32,325 people, located in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska.
What is the median household income in Fairbanks?
The median household income in Fairbanks, AK is $73,534 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 8.7%.
What is the median home value in Fairbanks?
The median home value in Fairbanks, AK is $268,400. Median rent is $1,496/month.
What are the top health concerns in Fairbanks?
The top health indicators in Fairbanks include Short Sleep Duration (38.6%), Obesity (35.5%), High Blood Pressure (28.5%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Fairbanks?
Fairbanks has 1 hospital with an average rating of 2/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Fairbanks?
The median age in Fairbanks, AK is 29 years. 26.2% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Safety Context

Fairbanks, AK is located in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska. With a population of 32K and a $73,534 median household income, the community faces health challenges including short sleep duration and obesity. Residents have access to 1 hospital with an average rating of 2/5 stars. Safety alerts for the Fairbanks area are monitored from federal and state agencies including FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC.

Safety Guides

Primary source data

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Fairbanks, both outside Alaska so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside AK (8.7% here).

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside AK ($73,534 here).

Nearby Cities 8

Using Fairbanks's profile

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Fairbanks area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
  • Compare Fairbanks against Alaska peers on any ranking lens. Explore Alaska

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Fairbanks North Star Borough) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.