Soldotna vs Sterling

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

Soldotna 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 4,448 in Soldotna). Sterling has the higher median household income ($110,341 vs $62,984 in Soldotna). Sterling has the higher median home value ($346,100 vs $277,300 in Soldotna).

Population, income & housing

	Soldotna	Sterling
Population	4,448	6,776
Median age	34.2 yrs	45.1 yrs
Median household income	$62,984	$110,341
Median home value	$277,300	$346,100
Median gross rent	$1,104	$1,095
Housing units	1,991	3,883
Homeownership rate	58.1%	86.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.4%	31.3%
Unemployment rate	5.6%	7.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Soldotna	Sterling
Population	4,649 → 4,448 (-4.3%)	5,169 → 6,776 (+31.1%)
Median household income	$60,491 → $62,984 (+4.1%)	$83,889 → $110,341 (+31.5%)
Median home value	$211,400 → $277,300 (+31.2%)	$303,800 → $346,100 (+13.9%)
Median gross rent	$1,019 → $1,104 (+8.3%)	$951 → $1,095 (+15.1%)

Soldotna

Population

4,6494,448

Median household income

$60,491$62,984

Median home value

$211,400$277,300

Median gross rent

$1,019$1,104

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)

	Soldotna	Sterling
Under 5	7.6%	5.0%
5 to 17	18.0%	16.7%
18 to 24	6.7%	6.7%
25 to 34	18.3%	10.3%
35 to 44	10.1%	11.1%
45 to 54	12.1%	11.5%
55 to 64	9.9%	13.6%
65 to 74	9.1%	16.8%
75 and over	8.2%	8.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Soldotna	Sterling
White (non-Hispanic)	76.3%	91.5%
Black or African American	1.2%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	4.4%	2.7%
Asian	2.2%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.7%	0.2%
Two or more races	8.7%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	6.5%	1.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Soldotna	Sterling
No high school diploma	2.9%	3.5%
High school graduate	38.0%	27.9%
Some college or associate's	37.7%	37.3%
Bachelor's degree	13.5%	19.5%
Graduate or professional degree	7.9%	11.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Soldotna	Sterling
Drove alone	63.4%	64.2%
Carpooled	19.5%	15.2%
Public transit	1.8%	1.1%
Walked	5.2%	2.2%
Bicycle	0.7%	0.0%
Worked from home	4.1%	12.7%
Other means	5.3%	4.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Soldotna	Sterling
1-unit, detached	55.8%	92.8%
1-unit, attached	2.1%	2.7%
2 to 4 units	16.4%	1.1%
5 to 19 units	15.8%	0.4%
20 or more units	6.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	3.9%	2.9%

Poverty & households

	Soldotna	Sterling
Poverty rate	18.5%	5.9%
Average household size	2.51	2.46
Mean commute (minutes)	13	29
Median year structure built	1986	1993