Nikiski vs Sterling

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

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

Sterling has the higher population (6,776 vs 4,656 in Nikiski). Sterling has the higher median household income ($110,341 vs $63,023 in Nikiski). Sterling has the higher median home value ($346,100 vs $309,200 in Nikiski).

Population, income & housing

	Nikiski	Sterling
Population	4,656	6,776
Median age	37.1 yrs	45.1 yrs
Median household income	$63,023	$110,341
Median home value	$309,200	$346,100
Median gross rent	$970	$1,095
Housing units	1,893	3,883
Homeownership rate	79.5%	86.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.6%	31.3%
Unemployment rate	6.1%	7.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Nikiski	Sterling
Population	4,316 → 4,656 (+7.9%)	5,169 → 6,776 (+31.1%)
Median household income	$54,583 → $63,023 (+15.5%)	$83,889 → $110,341 (+31.5%)
Median home value	$214,900 → $309,200 (+43.9%)	$303,800 → $346,100 (+13.9%)
Median gross rent	$1,131 → $970 (-14.2%)	$951 → $1,095 (+15.1%)

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

Sterling

Population

5,1696,776

Median household income

$83,889$110,341

Median home value

$303,800$346,100

Median gross rent

$951$1,095

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Nikiski	Sterling
Under 5	6.2%	5.0%
5 to 17	21.0%	16.7%
18 to 24	4.9%	6.7%
25 to 34	13.6%	10.3%
35 to 44	14.0%	11.1%
45 to 54	5.8%	11.5%
55 to 64	13.3%	13.6%
65 to 74	12.4%	16.8%
75 and over	8.8%	8.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Nikiski	Sterling
White (non-Hispanic)	73.6%	91.5%
Black or African American	0.9%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	5.0%	2.7%
Asian	3.6%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more races	11.1%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	5.3%	1.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Nikiski	Sterling
No high school diploma	7.5%	3.5%
High school graduate	35.7%	27.9%
Some college or associate's	41.3%	37.3%
Bachelor's degree	11.0%	19.5%
Graduate or professional degree	4.6%	11.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Nikiski	Sterling
Drove alone	74.6%	64.2%
Carpooled	16.3%	15.2%
Public transit	0.0%	1.1%
Walked	2.3%	2.2%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	0.1%	12.7%
Other means	6.7%	4.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Nikiski	Sterling
1-unit, detached	77.1%	92.8%
1-unit, attached	4.9%	2.7%
2 to 4 units	7.3%	1.1%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	0.4%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	10.7%	2.9%

Poverty & households

	Nikiski	Sterling
Poverty rate	13.9%	5.9%
Average household size	2.90	2.46
Mean commute (minutes)	30	29
Median year structure built	1986	1993