As one of the United States’ least populated countries, it’s no surprise that Alaska doesn’t have any single city with a massive population. The entire state, despite being the largest state in the country, doesn’t even reach one million residents in terms of total population. It’s most populated city, Anchorage, has a population that hasn’t yet surpassed 300,000. The city is the only one that has a population that exceeds 100,000. There are just two cities that have populations that range between 10,000 and 100,000 people: Juneau and Fairbanks.
There is a total of 148 incorporated cities in Alaska. These are broken down into the following groups: four unified home rule municipalities, ten home rule cities, nineteen first class cities, and 115 second class cities. In order to be classified as a home rule or first class city, Alaska law dictates that a city must have at least 400 residents. The incorporated cities of Alaska cover just over 2% of the state’s total land area, yet over 69% of the population lives within these areas. Most of the state’s incorporated cities fall among the four unified home rule municipalities.
Anchorage is the biggest city in Alaska, with a population of 283,154 in 2023.
Houston is the fastest growing city in Alaska over the past 3 years, having grown 4.05% annually since 2020.
There are 147 cities in Alaska.
The 10 largest cities in Alaska are: Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Wasilla, Sitka, Ketchikan, Kenai, Palmer, Bethel and Homer.