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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Alaska

2 persistent-poverty counties

Alaska has 2 persistent-poverty counties and 27 nonmetro counties — home to 13,548 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 10.2% and child poverty is 12.5%.

2

Persistent-poverty counties

27

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

14K

Residents in PPCs

30

Total counties

Alaska by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Alaska at a glance

Poverty rate

10.2%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

12.5%

Under 18

PPC share

6.7%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

90.0%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

4.90

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.32

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Alaska's 36 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 30 in Alaska.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Kusilvak 0.72
  2. 2 Yukon-Koyukuk 0.65
  3. 3 Nome 0.38
  4. 4 Northwest Arctic 0.37
  5. 5 Dillingham 0.37

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Kusilvak 31.2%
  2. 2 Bethel 24.0%
  3. 3 Nome 21.1%
  4. 4 Yukon-Koyukuk 20.8%
  5. 5 Northwest Arctic 18.4%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Kusilvak 31.2%
  2. 2 Yukon-Koyukuk 20.8%

Every county in Alaska

All 30 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Aleutians East 9 — Low ed. 12.4% 25.0% 3,423 0.35
Aleutians West 9 — Housing 9.2% 14.6% 5,178 0.34
Anchorage 2 — Housing 9.3% 11.3% 289,069 0.07
Bethel 7 — Low emp., Low ed., Housing 24.0% 29.6% 18,487 0.32
Bristol Bay 9 — Pop. loss 9.7% 8.5% 878 0.34
Chugach 9 — — 4.8% 3.7% 6,964 0.32
Copper River 9 — — 11.4% 13.6% 2,626 0.35
Denali 9 — Pop. loss, Housing 6.6% 11.6% 2,029 0.33
Dillingham 9 — Housing 16.3% 18.6% 4,780 0.37
Fairbanks North Star 3 — Housing 6.2% 4.6% 95,555 0.10
Haines 9 — Housing 6.1% 1.8% 2,077 0.32
Hoonah-Angoon 9 — — 12.6% 9.1% 2,313 0.35
Juneau City and 5 — — 8.2% 9.0% 31,969 0.18
Kenai Peninsula 7 — Housing 11.6% 14.0% 59,843 0.27
Ketchikan Gateway 7 — Housing 9.5% 9.9% 13,870 0.26
Kodiak Island 7 — Pop. loss, Housing 7.7% 6.8% 12,878 0.26
Kusilvak 9 Yes Low emp., Low ed., Housing 31.2% 33.9% 8,277 0.72
Lake and Peninsula 9 — Pop. loss, Housing 15.2% 20.3% 1,007 0.36
Matanuska-Susitna 2 — Housing 10.3% 12.6% 110,677 0.08
Nome 9 — Housing 21.1% 24.2% 9,925 0.38
North Slope 9 — Housing 8.3% 11.2% 10,891 0.33
Northwest Arctic 9 — Low ed., Housing 18.4% 25.4% 7,611 0.37
Petersburg 9 — — 5.7% 7.1% 3,394 0.32
Prince of Wales-Hyder 9 — — 15.1% 18.5% 5,730 0.36
Sitka City and 7 — Housing 8.4% 12.4% 8,393 0.26
Skagway 9 — — 6.2% 6.8% 1,308 0.32
Southeast Fairbanks 9 — Housing 13.3% 18.4% 6,936 0.35
Wrangell City and 9 — — 10.9% 25.5% 2,106 0.34
Yakutat City and 9 — — 7.8% 25.8% 506 0.33
Yukon-Koyukuk 8 Yes Pop. loss, Housing 20.8% 25.4% 5,271 0.65

Find a food pantry in Alaska

Search Alaska's 36 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Alaska pantry directory

Alaska SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Alaska SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Alaska food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology