Gakona vs Mentasta Lake

A side-by-side comparison of Gakona and Mentasta Lake: population, income, housing, and more.

Gakona and Mentasta Lake are places in Alaska. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Gakona has the higher population (200 vs 94 in Mentasta Lake). Gakona has the higher median household income ($90,313 vs $26,912 in Mentasta Lake). Gakona has the higher median home value ($322,700 vs $166,900 in Mentasta Lake).

Population, income & housing

	Gakona	Mentasta Lake
Population	200	94
Median age	36.4 yrs	36.3 yrs
Median household income	$90,313	$26,912
Median home value	$322,700	$166,900
Median gross rent	$710	$379
Housing units	166	98
Homeownership rate	80.8%	46.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.8%	0.0%
Unemployment rate	22.5%	11.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Gakona	Mentasta Lake
Population	154 → 200 (+29.9%)	266 → 94 (-64.7%)
Median household income	—	$50,625 → $26,912 (-46.8%)
Median home value	$656,300 → $322,700 (-50.8%)	$215,400 → $166,900 (-22.5%)
Median gross rent	$425 → $710 (+67.1%)	$347 → $379 (+9.2%)

Gakona

Population

154200

Median home value

$656,300$322,700

Median gross rent

$425$710

Mentasta Lake

Population

26694

Median household income

$50,625$26,912

Median home value

$215,400$166,900

Median gross rent

$347$379

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Gakona	Mentasta Lake
Under 5	11.5%	7.4%
5 to 17	19.0%	25.5%
18 to 24	0.0%	7.4%
25 to 34	16.5%	8.5%
35 to 44	9.5%	3.2%
45 to 54	10.5%	11.7%
55 to 64	12.5%	10.6%
65 to 74	16.0%	22.3%
75 and over	4.5%	3.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Gakona	Mentasta Lake
White (non-Hispanic)	56.5%	18.1%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	39.5%	81.9%
Asian	1.5%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.5%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	0.0%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Gakona	Mentasta Lake
No high school diploma	3.6%	21.4%
High school graduate	25.9%	33.9%
Some college or associate's	36.7%	44.6%
Bachelor's degree	30.2%	0.0%
Graduate or professional degree	3.6%	0.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Gakona	Mentasta Lake
Drove alone	46.8%	45.8%
Carpooled	11.4%	0.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	6.3%	41.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	35.4%	12.5%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Gakona	Mentasta Lake
1-unit, detached	85.5%	83.7%
1-unit, attached	4.2%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	3.6%	3.1%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	13.3%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	6.6%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Gakona	Mentasta Lake
Poverty rate	13.0%	26.6%
Average household size	2.74	1.88
Mean commute (minutes)	20	—
Median year structure built	1986	1979