Shishmaref vs Wales

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

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

Shishmaref has the higher population (462 vs 286 in Wales). Shishmaref has the higher median household income ($62,083 vs $38,125 in Wales). Shishmaref has the higher median home value ($116,700 vs $96,900 in Wales).

Population, income & housing

	Shishmaref	Wales
Population	462	286
Median age	33.7 yrs	20.7 yrs
Median household income	$62,083	$38,125
Median home value	$116,700	$96,900
Median gross rent	$950	—
Housing units	137	110
Homeownership rate	67.2%	67.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	11.7%	0.0%
Unemployment rate	22.9%	14.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Shishmaref	Wales
Population	498 → 462 (-7.2%)	184 → 286 (+55.4%)
Median household income	$38,125 → $62,083 (+62.8%)	$31,250 → $38,125 (+22.0%)
Median home value	$78,300 → $116,700 (+49.0%)	$72,500 → $96,900 (+33.7%)
Median gross rent	$843 → $950 (+12.7%)	—

Shishmaref

Population

498462

Median household income

$38,125$62,083

Median home value

$78,300$116,700

Median gross rent

$843$950

Wales

Population

184286

Median household income

$31,250$38,125

Median home value

$72,500$96,900

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Shishmaref	Wales
Under 5	8.0%	9.8%
5 to 17	27.3%	32.9%
18 to 24	3.7%	14.7%
25 to 34	12.3%	13.3%
35 to 44	16.5%	9.4%
45 to 54	14.9%	1.7%
55 to 64	7.1%	16.4%
65 to 74	8.0%	1.7%
75 and over	2.2%	0.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Shishmaref	Wales
White (non-Hispanic)	3.7%	7.7%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	93.9%	92.3%
Asian	1.5%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.0%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	0.9%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Shishmaref	Wales
No high school diploma	13.1%	15.6%
High school graduate	59.9%	69.7%
Some college or associate's	15.2%	14.8%
Bachelor's degree	3.9%	0.0%
Graduate or professional degree	7.8%	0.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Shishmaref	Wales
Drove alone	0.0%	0.0%
Carpooled	1.8%	21.2%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	60.0%	30.8%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	4.5%	7.7%
Other means	33.6%	40.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Shishmaref	Wales
1-unit, detached	97.1%	91.8%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	2.2%	2.7%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.7%	5.5%

Poverty & households

	Shishmaref	Wales
Poverty rate	23.2%	28.0%
Average household size	3.79	3.34
Mean commute (minutes)	4	4
Median year structure built	1985	1978