Kivalina vs Kotzebue

A side-by-side comparison of Kivalina and Kotzebue: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Kotzebue has the higher population (3,046 vs 813 in Kivalina). Kotzebue has the higher median household income ($106,328 vs $70,278 in Kivalina). Kotzebue has the higher median home value ($264,500 vs $119,600 in Kivalina).

Population, income & housing

	Kivalina	Kotzebue
Population	813	3,046
Median age	20.7 yrs	31.0 yrs
Median household income	$70,278	$106,328
Median home value	$119,600	$264,500
Median gross rent	$1,028	$1,610
Housing units	174	1,067
Homeownership rate	79.2%	43.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	2.3%	20.0%
Unemployment rate	23.9%	6.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Kivalina	Kotzebue
Population	683 → 813 (+19.0%)	3,287 → 3,046 (-7.3%)
Median household income	$53,750 → $70,278 (+30.7%)	$81,188 → $106,328 (+31.0%)
Median home value	$86,000 → $119,600 (+39.1%)	$236,500 → $264,500 (+11.8%)
Median gross rent	$717 → $1,028 (+43.4%)	$1,453 → $1,610 (+10.8%)

Kivalina

Population

683813

Median household income

$53,750$70,278

Median home value

$86,000$119,600

Median gross rent

$717$1,028

Kotzebue

Population

3,2873,046

Median household income

$81,188$106,328

Median home value

$236,500$264,500

Median gross rent

$1,453$1,610

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Kivalina	Kotzebue
Under 5	10.2%	9.6%
5 to 17	37.0%	22.8%
18 to 24	9.2%	7.8%
25 to 34	10.6%	16.9%
35 to 44	11.6%	13.7%
45 to 54	8.5%	11.6%
55 to 64	7.1%	10.5%
65 to 74	3.6%	4.8%
75 and over	2.2%	2.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Kivalina	Kotzebue
White (non-Hispanic)	1.2%	18.6%
Black or African American	0.0%	1.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	96.8%	64.3%
Asian	0.0%	2.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.0%	9.0%
Hispanic or Latino	0.0%	4.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Kivalina	Kotzebue
No high school diploma	22.3%	6.8%
High school graduate	66.1%	38.5%
Some college or associate's	9.3%	34.7%
Bachelor's degree	0.8%	12.6%
Graduate or professional degree	1.4%	7.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Kivalina	Kotzebue
Drove alone	2.2%	21.3%
Carpooled	0.0%	17.6%
Public transit	4.8%	2.1%
Walked	48.9%	42.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.6%
Worked from home	1.6%	5.5%
Other means	42.5%	10.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Kivalina	Kotzebue
1-unit, detached	94.3%	54.9%
1-unit, attached	1.7%	1.2%
2 to 4 units	1.1%	17.6%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	15.2%
20 or more units	0.0%	8.9%
Mobile home & other	2.9%	2.2%

Poverty & households

	Kivalina	Kotzebue
Poverty rate	22.1%	13.4%
Average household size	5.28	3.25
Mean commute (minutes)	4	7
Median year structure built	1982	1983