Eielson AFB vs Salcha

A side-by-side comparison of Eielson AFB and Salcha: population, income, housing, and more.

Eielson AFB and Salcha are places in Alaska. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Eielson AFB has the higher population (3,133 vs 1,076 in Salcha). Salcha has the higher median household income ($72,083 vs $59,716 in Eielson AFB). Since 2019, Salcha's population has grown faster (+7.0% vs -3.0%).

Population, income & housing

	Eielson AFB	Salcha
Population	3,133	1,076
Median age	21.9 yrs	38.9 yrs
Median household income	$59,716	$72,083
Median home value	—	$257,500
Median gross rent	$2,021	—
Housing units	881	645
Homeownership rate	0.0%	93.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	34.2%	27.8%
Unemployment rate	12.9%	2.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Eielson AFB	Salcha
Population	3,229 → 3,133 (-3.0%)	1,006 → 1,076 (+7.0%)
Median household income	$68,583 → $59,716 (-12.9%)	$70,486 → $72,083 (+2.3%)
Median home value	—	$170,500 → $257,500 (+51.0%)
Median gross rent	$2,042 → $2,021 (-1.0%)	$1,336 → $1,339 (+0.2%)

Eielson AFB

Population

3,2293,133

Median household income

$68,583$59,716

Median gross rent

$2,042$2,021

Salcha

Population

1,0061,076

Median household income

$70,486$72,083

Median home value

$170,500$257,500

Median gross rent

$1,336$1,339

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Eielson AFB	Salcha
Under 5	12.9%	5.8%
5 to 17	27.4%	12.2%
18 to 24	19.1%	2.6%
25 to 34	26.5%	24.3%
35 to 44	12.5%	14.4%
45 to 54	0.8%	10.5%
55 to 64	0.2%	21.1%
65 to 74	0.0%	7.8%
75 and over	0.6%	1.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Eielson AFB	Salcha
White (non-Hispanic)	65.5%	75.5%
Black or African American	5.6%	1.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	4.2%
Asian	1.0%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.0%
Two or more races	13.2%	7.5%
Hispanic or Latino	14.5%	11.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Eielson AFB	Salcha
No high school diploma	0.0%	9.0%
High school graduate	15.9%	28.4%
Some college or associate's	49.9%	34.7%
Bachelor's degree	28.2%	16.5%
Graduate or professional degree	6.0%	11.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Eielson AFB	Salcha
Drove alone	77.1%	83.9%
Carpooled	8.1%	7.0%
Public transit	0.0%	2.5%
Walked	11.0%	3.8%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.0%
Worked from home	2.5%	2.8%
Other means	0.8%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Eielson AFB	Salcha
1-unit, detached	2.5%	95.2%
1-unit, attached	63.1%	2.8%
2 to 4 units	29.1%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	1.6%	0.0%
20 or more units	3.7%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	2.0%

Poverty & households

	Eielson AFB	Salcha
Poverty rate	1.8%	6.7%
Average household size	3.50	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	9	35
Median year structure built	1999	1988