Shishmaref vs Unalakleet

A side-by-side comparison of Shishmaref and Unalakleet: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Unalakleet has the higher population (800 vs 462 in Shishmaref). Unalakleet has the higher median household income ($86,250 vs $62,083 in Shishmaref). Unalakleet has the higher median home value ($163,800 vs $116,700 in Shishmaref).

Population, income & housing

	Shishmaref	Unalakleet
Population	462	800
Median age	33.7 yrs	38.7 yrs
Median household income	$62,083	$86,250
Median home value	$116,700	$163,800
Median gross rent	$950	$1,180
Housing units	137	245
Homeownership rate	67.2%	56.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	11.7%	43.9%
Unemployment rate	22.9%	8.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Shishmaref	Unalakleet
Population	498 → 462 (-7.2%)	707 → 800 (+13.2%)
Median household income	$38,125 → $62,083 (+62.8%)	$70,000 → $86,250 (+23.2%)
Median home value	$78,300 → $116,700 (+49.0%)	$111,100 → $163,800 (+47.4%)
Median gross rent	$843 → $950 (+12.7%)	$1,188 → $1,180 (-0.7%)

Shishmaref

Population

498462

Median household income

$38,125$62,083

Median home value

$78,300$116,700

Median gross rent

$843$950

Unalakleet

Population

707800

Median household income

$70,000$86,250

Median home value

$111,100$163,800

Median gross rent

$1,188$1,180

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Shishmaref	Unalakleet
Under 5	8.0%	10.5%
5 to 17	27.3%	16.9%
18 to 24	3.7%	6.9%
25 to 34	12.3%	11.4%
35 to 44	16.5%	18.0%
45 to 54	14.9%	12.4%
55 to 64	7.1%	14.0%
65 to 74	8.0%	6.3%
75 and over	2.2%	3.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Shishmaref	Unalakleet
White (non-Hispanic)	3.7%	25.0%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	93.9%	69.8%
Asian	1.5%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.0%	4.8%
Hispanic or Latino	0.9%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Shishmaref	Unalakleet
No high school diploma	13.1%	5.3%
High school graduate	59.9%	28.1%
Some college or associate's	15.2%	22.6%
Bachelor's degree	3.9%	6.1%
Graduate or professional degree	7.8%	37.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Shishmaref	Unalakleet
Drove alone	0.0%	24.9%
Carpooled	1.8%	3.8%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	60.0%	51.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	1.5%
Worked from home	4.5%	9.5%
Other means	33.6%	8.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Shishmaref	Unalakleet
1-unit, detached	97.1%	83.7%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	5.3%
2 to 4 units	2.2%	7.8%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	3.3%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.7%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Shishmaref	Unalakleet
Poverty rate	23.2%	12.8%
Average household size	3.79	2.94
Mean commute (minutes)	4	3
Median year structure built	1985	1981