Kenai vs Nikiski

A side-by-side comparison of Kenai and Nikiski: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Kenai has the higher population (7,562 vs 4,656 in Nikiski). Kenai has the higher median household income ($74,907 vs $63,023 in Nikiski). Nikiski has the higher median home value ($309,200 vs $249,400 in Kenai).

Population, income & housing

	Kenai	Nikiski
Population	7,562	4,656
Median age	34.1 yrs	37.1 yrs
Median household income	$74,907	$63,023
Median home value	$249,400	$309,200
Median gross rent	$1,134	$970
Housing units	3,326	1,893
Homeownership rate	64.8%	79.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.1%	15.6%
Unemployment rate	8.8%	6.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Kenai	Nikiski
Population	7,742 → 7,562 (-2.3%)	4,316 → 4,656 (+7.9%)
Median household income	$61,348 → $74,907 (+22.1%)	$54,583 → $63,023 (+15.5%)
Median home value	$229,100 → $249,400 (+8.9%)	$214,900 → $309,200 (+43.9%)
Median gross rent	$950 → $1,134 (+19.4%)	$1,131 → $970 (-14.2%)

Kenai

Population

7,7427,562

Median household income

$61,348$74,907

Median home value

$229,100$249,400

Median gross rent

$950$1,134

Nikiski

Population

4,3164,656

Median household income

$54,583$63,023

Median home value

$214,900$309,200

Median gross rent

$1,131$970

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Kenai	Nikiski
Under 5	7.1%	6.2%
5 to 17	17.2%	21.0%
18 to 24	10.5%	4.9%
25 to 34	16.9%	13.6%
35 to 44	12.6%	14.0%
45 to 54	13.2%	5.8%
55 to 64	11.5%	13.3%
65 to 74	7.7%	12.4%
75 and over	3.3%	8.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Kenai	Nikiski
White (non-Hispanic)	68.7%	73.6%
Black or African American	1.0%	0.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	7.3%	5.0%
Asian	3.2%	3.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.6%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.4%
Two or more races	11.1%	11.1%
Hispanic or Latino	8.1%	5.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Kenai	Nikiski
No high school diploma	5.3%	7.5%
High school graduate	37.6%	35.7%
Some college or associate's	32.9%	41.3%
Bachelor's degree	14.9%	11.0%
Graduate or professional degree	9.3%	4.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Kenai	Nikiski
Drove alone	69.7%	74.6%
Carpooled	11.3%	16.3%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	5.9%	2.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.0%	0.1%
Other means	6.0%	6.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Kenai	Nikiski
1-unit, detached	66.4%	77.1%
1-unit, attached	3.9%	4.9%
2 to 4 units	14.3%	7.3%
5 to 19 units	8.2%	0.0%
20 or more units	6.2%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.9%	10.7%

Poverty & households

	Kenai	Nikiski
Poverty rate	12.3%	13.9%
Average household size	2.56	2.90
Mean commute (minutes)	14	30
Median year structure built	1981	1986