Nome Census Area vs North Slope Borough

A side-by-side comparison of Nome Census Area and North Slope Borough: population, income, housing, and more.

Nome Census Area and North Slope Borough are counties in Alaska. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

North Slope Borough has the higher population (10,891 vs 9,925 in Nome Census Area). North Slope Borough has the higher median household income ($86,313 vs $76,643 in Nome Census Area). North Slope Borough has the higher median home value ($219,600 vs $201,000 in Nome Census Area).

Population, income & housing

	Nome Census Area	North Slope Borough
Population	9,925	10,891
Median age	29.4 yrs	35.2 yrs
Median household income	$76,643	$86,313
Median home value	$201,000	$219,600
Median gross rent	$1,328	$1,167
Housing units	4,109	2,640
Homeownership rate	63.4%	49.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.5%	14.9%
Unemployment rate	15.8%	6.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Nome Census Area	North Slope Borough
Population	9,988 → 9,925 (-0.6%)	9,792 → 10,891 (+11.2%)
Median household income	$61,048 → $76,643 (+25.5%)	$79,306 → $86,313 (+8.8%)
Median home value	$154,600 → $201,000 (+30.0%)	$152,500 → $219,600 (+44.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,287 → $1,328 (+3.2%)	$1,000 → $1,167 (+16.7%)

Nome Census Area

Population

9,9889,925

Median household income

$61,048$76,643

Median home value

$154,600$201,000

Median gross rent

$1,287$1,328

North Slope Borough

Population

9,79210,891

Median household income

$79,306$86,313

Median home value

$152,500$219,600

Median gross rent

$1,000$1,167

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Nome Census Area	North Slope Borough
Under 5	8.6%	5.8%
5 to 17	25.3%	19.1%
18 to 24	10.2%	8.0%
25 to 34	14.4%	16.4%
35 to 44	12.5%	15.8%
45 to 54	10.6%	13.4%
55 to 64	10.0%	13.6%
65 to 74	6.1%	6.1%
75 and over	2.3%	1.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Nome Census Area	North Slope Borough
White (non-Hispanic)	13.8%	31.2%
Black or African American	1.0%	1.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	74.6%	47.4%
Asian	1.7%	5.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	1.9%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	6.8%	7.4%
Hispanic or Latino	2.1%	5.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Nome Census Area	North Slope Borough
No high school diploma	11.4%	9.8%
High school graduate	44.2%	43.7%
Some college or associate's	26.9%	31.5%
Bachelor's degree	8.4%	8.9%
Graduate or professional degree	9.0%	6.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Nome Census Area	North Slope Borough
Drove alone	29.6%	18.9%
Carpooled	10.5%	20.2%
Public transit	0.3%	0.7%
Walked	31.6%	38.8%
Bicycle	1.2%	0.2%
Worked from home	6.3%	4.9%
Other means	20.5%	16.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Nome Census Area	North Slope Borough
1-unit, detached	82.2%	72.3%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	3.3%
2 to 4 units	9.7%	7.9%
5 to 19 units	4.9%	12.9%
20 or more units	1.2%	2.9%
Mobile home & other	0.9%	0.8%

Poverty & households

	Nome Census Area	North Slope Borough
Poverty rate	21.1%	8.3%
Average household size	3.35	3.31
Mean commute (minutes)	6	14
Median year structure built	1984	1984